Helen Kelesi

Helen Kelesi

Birthdate	November 15, 1969
Birthplace	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
From	Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
Height	5’5” (1,65m)
Style of play	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Turned pro	1985
Retired	1995
Best WTA singles ranking	No. 13 (November 20, 1989)
Best WTA doubles ranking	No. 26 (April 22, 1991)
Profile on CdnTennis.ca

Biography

Helen Kelesi (born November 15, 1969 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian former professional tennis player. She reached a career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 13 on November 20, 1989 and a career-high WTA doubles ranking of No. 26 on April 22, 1991.

Kelesi was a regular fixture in the top 25 from 1986 to 1991. She won singles titles in two tour events, the 1986 Japan Open and the 1988 Citta de Taranto, and at the French Open, she was a quarterfinalist in 1988 (losing to Gabriela Sabatini) and 1989 (losing to Mary Joe Fernández). During her time on the WTA Tour, Kelesi recorded wins over Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Conchita Martínez, Jana Novotná, Manuela Maleeva, Helena Suková and Pam Shriver. Kelesi's professional career came to an end in 1995 when a brain tumour the size of a tennis ball was discovered following months of headaches, dizziness and vision problems. Numerous operations followed over the years, Kelesi successfully recovered. She won the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canada's Female Athlete of the Year in 1989 and 1990, and was named Tennis Canada female player of the year four times (1986, 1987, 1989, and 1990).

Kelesi began coaching young children in Canada in the late 1990s. She also became a part-time tennis journalist and commentator. She was inducted into the Canadian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2002.

Significant finals

WTA Tier I finals

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1990	Rome	Clay	Monica Seles (YUG)	Laura Garrone (ITA) Laura Golarsa (ITA)	6–3, 6–4
Loss	1990	Montréal	Hard	Raffaella Reggi (ITA)	Betsy Nagelsen (USA) Gabriela Sabatini (ARG)	6–3, 2–6, 2–6

WTA career finals

Singles: 9 (2 titles, 7 runners-up)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
Olympic Games (0–0)
WTA Championships (0–0)
WTA Tier I (0–0)
WTA Tier II (0–0)
Virginia Slims / WTA Tier III, IV & V (2–7)

Titles by surface
Hard (1–3)
Clay (1–4)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Aug 1985	VS of Central New York, United States	Virginia Slims	Hard	Barbara Potter (USA)	6–4, 3–6, 2–6
Win	1–1	Oct 1986	Japan Open, Japan	Virginia Slims	Hard	Bettina Fulco (ARG)	6–2, 6–2
Win	2–1	May 1988	Ilva Trophy, Italy	Tier V	Clay	Laura Garrone (ITA)	6–1, 6–0
Loss	2–2	May 1988	Italian Open, Italy	Tier IV	Clay	Gabriela Sabatini (ARG)	1–6, 7–6^(7–4), 1–6
Loss	2–3	Aug 1988	Cincinnati Open, United States	Tier III	Hard	Barbara Potter (USA)	2–6, 2–6
Loss	2–4	Apr 1989	Spanish Open, Spain	Tier V	Clay	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (ESP)	2–6, 7–5, 1–6
Loss	2–5	Nov 1989	VS of Nashville, United States	Tier V	Hard (i)	Leila Meskhi (URS)	2–6, 3–6
Loss	2–6	May 1990	Geneva European Open, Switzerland	Tier IV	Clay	Barbara Paulus (AUT)	6–2, 5–7, 6–7^(3–7)
Loss	2–7	May 1991	Geneva European Open, Switzerland	Tier IV	Clay	Manuela Maleeva (SUI)	3–6, 6–3, 3–6

Doubles: 5 (2 titles, 3 runners-up)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
Olympic Games (0–0)
WTA Championships (0–0)
WTA Tier I (1–1)
WTA Tier II (0–0)
Virginia Slims / WTA Tier III, IV & V (1–2)

Titles by surface
Hard (1–2)
Clay (1–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	May 1988	Ilva Trophy, Italy	Tier V	Clay	Laura Garrone (ITA)	Andrea Betzner (FRG) Claudia Porwik (FRG)	1–6, 2–6
Loss	0–2	Aug 1988	Cincinnati Open, United States	Tier III	Hard	Lindsay Bartlett (USA)	Beth Herr (USA) Candy Reynolds (USA)	6–4, 6–7^(9–11), 1–6
Win	1–2	May 1990	Italian Open, Italy	Tier I	Clay	Monica Seles (YUG)	Laura Garrone (ITA) Laura Golarsa (ITA)	6–3, 6–4
Loss	1–3	Aug 1990	Canadian Open, Canada	Tier I	Hard	Raffaella Reggi (ITA)	Betsy Nagelsen (USA) Gabriela Sabatini (ARG)	6–3, 2–6, 2–6
Win	2–3	Oct 1990	VS of Arizona, United States	Tier IV	Hard	Elise Burgin (USA)	Sandy Collins (USA) Ronni Reis (USA)	6–4, 6–2

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 3 (3 titles)

Legend
ITF $100,000 tournaments (0–0)
ITF $75,000 tournaments (0–0)
ITF $50,000 tournaments (0–0)
ITF $25,000 tournaments (2–0)
ITF $10,000 tournaments (1–0)

Titles by surface
Hard (3–0)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Jan 1991	Midland, United States	$25,000	Hard (i)	Meredith McGrath (USA)	6–2, 6–2
Win	2–0	Jan 1992	Midland, United States (2)	$25,000	Hard (i)	Claire Wegink (NED)	7–6^(7–2), 7–6^(10–8)
Win	3–0	Jan 1993	Austin, United States	$10,000	Hard	Elly Hakami (USA)	6–4, 3–6, 6–2

Doubles: 2 (2 runners-up)

Legend
ITF $100,000 tournaments (0–0)
ITF $75,000 tournaments (0–0)
ITF $50,000 tournaments (0–0)
ITF $25,000 tournaments (0–2)
ITF $10,000 tournaments (0–0)

Titles by surface
Hard (0–2)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Jan 1991	Midland, United States	$25,000	Hard (i)	Katrina Adams (USA)	Meredith McGrath (USA) Anne Smith (USA)	5–7, 5–7
Loss	0–2	Jan 1992	Midland, United States	$25,000	Hard (i)	Caroline Vis (NED)	Manon Bollegraf (NED) Meredith McGrath (USA)	3–6, 1–6

Singles performance timeline

Tournament	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	SR	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	NH	2R	A	A	3R	A	1R	A	2R	0 / 4	4–4	50%
French Open	1R	1R	4R	QF	QF	2R	3R	A	1R	1R	0 / 9	14–9	61%
Wimbledon	1R	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	A	3R	1R	0 / 9	3–9	25%
US Open	1R	3R	3R	2R	1R	2R	2R	1R	1R	1R	0 / 10	7–10	41%
Win–Loss	0–3	3–3	6–4	5–3	4–3	4–4	3–3	0–2	2–3	1–4	0 / 32	28–32	47%

Doubles performance timeline

Tournament	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	SR	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	1R	A	A	A	A	2R	0 / 2	1–2	33%
French Open	1R	2R	QF	A	1R	A	0 / 4	4–4	50%
Wimbledon	2R	2R	1R	1R	1R	A	0 / 5	2–5	29%
US Open	1R	1R	A	2R	2R	A	0 / 4	2–4	33%
Win–Loss	1–4	2–3	3–2	1–2	1–3	1–1	0 / 15	9–15	38%

Mixed doubles performance timeline

Tournament	1986	1987	1988	SR	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	NH	A	A	0 / 0	0–0	–
French Open	A	A	2R	0 / 1	1–1	50%
Wimbledon	2R	2R	1R	0 / 3	2–3	40%
US Open	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0	–
Win–Loss	1–1	1–1	1–2	0 / 4	3–4	43%

Wins over top-10 opponents

Kelesi has a 10–46 (18%) record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.

Wins over top-10 opponents per season
Season	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	Total
Wins	0	1	3	3	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	10

No.	Opponent	Rank	Event	Surface	Round	Score	Kelesi Rank
1986
1.	Hana Mandlíková (TCH)	3	VS of Washington, United States	Carpet (i)	2R	6–3, 6–1	46
1987
2.	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch (FRG)	9	Amelia Island Championships, United States	Clay	2R	6–3, 6–4	37
3.	Helena Suková (TCH)	6	Fed Cup, Vancouver, Canada	Hard	QF	4–6, 6–1, 6–2	36
4.	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch (FRG)	9	Canadian Open, Canada	Hard	3R	6–2, 6–3	32
1988
5.	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch (FRG)	9	Hilton Head Island Open, United States	Clay	3R	6–4, 7–5	35
6.	Manuela Maleeva (BUL)	6	French Open, France	Clay	3R	6–4, 6–2	25
7.	Manuela Maleeva (BUL)	6	Cincinnati Open, United States	Hard	SF	6–0, 6–3	23
1991
8.	Jana Novotná (TCH)	8	VS of Chicago, United States	Carpet (i)	2R	2–6, 7–6^(7–5), 7–6^(7–1)	24
9.	Conchita Martínez (ESP)	8	WTA Swiss Open, Switzerland	Clay	SF	6–4, 6–7^(5–7), 6–2	24
1992
10.	Conchita Martínez (ESP)	8	Fed Cup, Frankfurt, Germany	Clay	2R	7–6^(7–4), 6–2	136

Titles won with partners

Partner	WTA Tier I	WTA Tier III/IV/V	Total
Monica Seles (YUG)	1	0	1
Elise Burgin (USA)	0	1	1
Overall Total	1	1	2

External links

Profile on CdnTennis.ca