Monique Javer

Monique Alicia Javer (born 22 July 1967) is an American-born former professional tennis player who represented Great Britain and was at one time the British number 1. She turned professional in 1985 and played her final professional match in 2000. During the course of her career she won one WTA singles title (the 1988 Singapore Open), reached four WTA semifinals and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No.56 (achieved 21 September 1992). She also represented Great Britain at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Javer managed to reach the second round of all four Grand Slams during her fifteen-year career. She reached the second round of the French Open in 1990, the US Open in 1990 and Wimbledon in 1993. She also progressed to round two of the Australian Open on three occasions in the years 1988, 1991 and 1993, to give her a total of six wins in the main draws of the Grand Slam events.

Javer played her first match on the ITF circuit in June 1985 in a $10,000 tournament but was beaten in the first round. She competed in three more tournaments in 1985, reaching the second round of a WTA event, the quarterfinals of another $10,000 ITF event and losing in the second round of a final $10,000 ITF.

Javer began her 1986 season by reaching the quarterfinals of a $10,000 ITF event in Chicago. She had no more notable results into July when she won three matches to qualify for a WTA Tour event. She won two more in the main draw to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in her career where she was beaten by the number three seed, Melissa Gurney, 1–6, 5–7. Monique spent the rest of the season competing in the qualifying rounds for WTA events. Her 1986 year-end ranking was world No.168.

In her first event of 1987, Javer qualified for the second round of the Bausch & Lomb Championships on Amelia Island. As with the previous year, Javer spent the majority of the remainder of the season trying to qualify for WTA events but did not manage to pass the first round of any. Her 1987 year-end ranking was world No.159.

Javer began her 1988 season strongly by reaching the second round of the Australian Open. This was the first time she had won a match in the main draw of a Grand Slam. She then went on to reach the second round of the newly categorised Tier V WTA event in Auckland, New Zealand. In April she won three matches to qualify for the Suntory Japan Open, the third of which was against compatriot, Sarah Loosemore. In the main draw she beat Barbara Gerken in the first round to set up a clash with top seed and world No.13, Natasha Zvereva. Javer caused a huge upset by beating Zvereva in straight sets, 7–6⁽³⁾, 6–2, to reach the quarterfinals where she was beaten by world No.28, Stephanie Rehe, 5–7, 1–6. Immediately following this result, Monique caused another shock by winning the title at the tier V WTA tournament in Singapore. Despite being unseeded Javer beat the world No.30 and No.3 seed, Dianne Balestrat, in the semifinals, 6–0, 6–1. She went on to beat the No.4 seed, Leila Meskhi, in the final, 7–6⁽³⁾, 6–3. Javer's best results over the rest of the year were second round showings in Eastbourne (where she lost to the eventual champion, Martina Navratilova) and Los Angeles. She ended her season by competing for Great Britain in the Wightman Cup. She lost her match with Patty Fendick, 6–2, 6–1. Javer achieved the first of her two year-end top 100 rankings, ending 1988 as the world No.73.

Javer began 1989 with four consecutive losses before reaching the second round of the tier III tournament in California. In April she reached the semifinals of the Singapore Open before losing to Akiko Kijimuta, 3–6, 6–4, 0–6. She was the No.7 seed in her next tournament, the Suntory Open but did not progress past the second round. Five consecutive defeats followed before Javer won two matches to qualify for the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles. She was eventually knocked out in the third round by world No.6, Zina Garrison. She progressed past the first round in only one of her tournaments for the rest of the season. Her year-end ranking was world No.113.

The 1990 season began with a number of tour events in the USA for Javer. She reached the second round of the event in Indian Wells before heading to Asia to where she reached the quarterfinals of the Suntory Open and the third round of the Singapore Open. In May, Javer reached the second round of the French Open for the first (and only) time in her career. She defeated Angeliki Kanellopoulou, 4–6, 6–4, 7–5, in round one before losing to Italian, Laura Lapi, in the second round. In her very next tournament she reached the second round in Eastbourne before going on to experience another first round loss in Wimbledon. Javer competed for Great Britain in the Fed Cup in July where she won one of her two singles matches. Following this she reached the second round of the Canadian Open where she came up against the reigning world No.1, Steffi Graf. Javer lost 6–1, 6–2. In August she got her second win of the season in the main draw of a Grand Slam when she reached the second round of the US Open by beating Jennifer Santrock in the first round. Silke Meier defeated Javer in round two. In October, Monique came up against the world No.10, Conchita Martínez, in the semifinals of the Arizona Classic but was beaten 6–1, 6–1. She played two more events this year and lost in the first round of both. She ended 1990 with a singles ranking of world No.101.