10 things you need to know about French Open quarterfinalist Alison Van Uytvanck

Alison Van Uytvanck : the new poster girl of Belgium

Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin were two Grand Slam Champions who put Belgium on the world tennis map. Apart from them, some other well-known Belgian players are Yanina Wickmayer and David Goffin who have been doing quite well for themselves, but not good enough to be in the upper echelons of the game.

Alison Van Uytvanck (pronounced as Ooytwank) came as a whiff of fresh air and has given all Belgians a reason to cheer. Almost unheard of till this French Open, she created waves by pulling off some massive upsets and made a lot of tennis fans around the world sit up and take notice.

1. Alison Van Uytvanck was born on 26th March, 1994 in Vilvoorde .
2. On the WTA Tour, she has won just one $125K title. She beat her compatriot, Yanina Wickmayer, to clinch that title.
3. Alison has won a total of 9 ITF titles between 2011 and 2013.
4. 2014 was a highlight year for Alison as she played in the main draw of all four Grand Slams. She also managed to reach the Second Round of Wimbledon for the first time in her career.
5. She started creating some buzz when she was the runner up in the Doubles Final of the Diamond Games at Antwerp.

Tournament Director, Kim Clijsters, with the Diamond Trophy at Antwerp

The Antwerp Games garnered quite some interest from the tennis fraternity as Kim Clijsters was the Tournament Director. Clijsters pulled out all stops to make the Diamond Games so alluring that a lot of top players like Eugenie Bouchard, Angelique Kerber, Dominika Cibulkova, Andrea Petkovic, Lucie Safarova, Carla Suarez Navarro, Alize Cornet, Karolina Pliskova and home stars like Kirsten Flipkens took part.

Now over to some very interesting facts about Alison Van Uytvanck

6. In the 2015 French Open, Alison Van Uytvanck made a deep run. She beat the likes of Schmiedlova, Diyas (32nd Seed), home favorite Mladenovic and the rising Romanian star Mitu to reach her first ever Grand Slam Quarter Final. She eventually lost to Timea Bacsinzky.
7. Alison’s game is easy on the eyes. She is calm, poised and generates easy power. Her game resembles that of Karolina Pliskova. While she is equally good off both flanks, she has a lot of variety in her game and that for a tennis fan is sheer bliss.

She can hit the double fisted backhand and the single handed back hand slice; she uses both of them in combinations that unsettle the opponent and is capable of finishing the point with a drop shot with perfect disguise.

8. Alison is coached by Ann Devries. Ann is one of those few women coaches on the circuit.

9. Alison reached a career high Singles Ranking of 73 on 22nd September 2014 and a career high Doubles Ranking of 184 on 25th May 2015. She is also a member of the Belgian Fed Cup team.
10. Alison entered this year’s French Open ranked 93 in the World and with her Quarter Final appearance, she will break into the top 50.