Monica Niculescu

Monica Niculescu is a Romanian tennis player. In 2009, Niculescu opened the season at the Brisbane International, where she lost to Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round in three sets. At the Open GDF Suez held in Paris, Niculescu defeated Timea Bacsinszky in the first round, before losing to eventual champion Amélie Mauresmo in the second. In 2011, Niculescu defeated Patricia Mayr-Achleitner in the first round and compatriot Alexandra Dulgheru in the second round, 6–3, 6–0, to advance to the third round of the 2011 US Open. In defeating Lucie Safarova, Niculescu advanced to the fourth round of a Grand Slam singles competition for the first time in her career. She advanced to her first WTA final at the International tournament in Luxembourg, losing to Victoria Azarenka. At the Australian Open, Niculescu made it to the third round by defeating Alizé Cornet and Pauline Parmentier, but she was defeated by then–world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki.