Helen Kelesi

Biography

Helen Kelesi (born November 15, 1969 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian former professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 13 on November 20, 1989 and a career-high doubles ranking of No. 26 on April 22, 1991. She 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. She was Tennis Canada singles player of the year four times (1986, 1987, 1989, and 1990).

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 and began coaching young children in Canada in the late 1990s. She also became a part-time tennis journalist and commentator.

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) WTA Tour Championships (0–0) Tier I (0–0) Tier II (0–0) Virginia Slims / 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) WTA Tour Championships (0–0) Tier I (1–1) Tier II (0–0) Virginia Slims / 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
$100,000 tournaments (0–0)
$75,000 tournaments (0–0)
$50,000 tournaments (0–0)
$25,000 tournaments (2–0)
$10,000 tournaments (1–0)

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