Céline Naef

Céline Naef (born 25 June 2005) is a Swiss tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of No. 121 in singles, achieved on 16 October 2023, and No. 122 in doubles, reached on 18 November 2024.^[1] Naef has won one doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour along with six singles and five doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.

Céline Naef

Naef at the 2023 French Open
Country (sports)	Switzerland
Born	(2005-06-25) 25 June 2005 (age 20) Feusisberg, Switzerland
Height	1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Plays	Right (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$373,922
Singles
Career record	109–55
Career titles	7 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 121 (16 October 2023)
Current ranking	No. 153 (16 December 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	Q2 (2024)
French Open	Q1 (2023, 2024, 2025)
Wimbledon	1R (2023)
US Open	Q2 (2023, 2024)
Doubles
Career record	45–23
Career titles	1 WTA Challenger, 5 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 122 (18 November 2024)
Current ranking	No. 135 (16 December 2024)
Team competitions
Hopman Cup	F (2023)
Last updated on: 16 December 2024.

Career

Junior years

Naef had a successful junior career. Her career-high ranking as a junior was world No. 4. In 2022, Naef won a prestigious tournament for juniors, the Trofeo Bonfiglio (Grade A).^[2] In 2022, Naef reached the final of the French Open, partnering Nikola Bartůňková.^[3] In July 2022, she played in the final of the European Youth Championship held in Klosters, Switzerland which she lost to Victoria Jiménez Kasintseva.^[4]

2022: ITF Circuit titles

Naef played and won her first final in Monastir, Tunisia, in March 2022.^[5] In October 2022, she became champion in both singles and doubles in Reims, France.^[6] A week later, she won another singles title in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin defeating Spanish player Irene Burillo Escorihuela in the final.^[7]

2023: WTA Tour debut, major and top 125 debuts

Naef started the season with a title in Loughborough, England where she became the champion by defeating British Eliz Maloney in the final.^[8] In February, Naef played her first $40k tournament finals, and became the champion in both singles and doubles in Porto, Portugal.^[9]

The 17 years old made her WTA Tour debut as a wildcard at the 2023 Rosmalen Open in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands^[10] and recorded her first tour-level win at the grass court event, defeating wildcard Venus Williams.^[11] Next, she defeated eighth seed Caty McNally,^[12] before losing to top seed Veronika Kudermetova in the quarterfinals.^[13] She made her Grand Slam tournament debut at Wimbledon after qualifying^[14][15] but lost in the first round to 22nd seed Anastasia Potapova.^[16]

2024

Naef at the 2024 Rosmalen Open

Ranked No. 161, she received again a wildcard for the Rosmalen Open in 's-Hertogenbosch and defeated qualifier Elizabeth Mandlik,^[17] before losing to second seed and eventual champion Liudmila Samsonova.^[18]

Partnering fellow Swiss player Belinda Bencic, she was runner-up in the doubles at the WTA 125 Open Angers Arena Loire, losing to Monica Niculescu and Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the final.^[19] The following week Naef reached the singles final at the WTA 125 Open de Limoges with wins over ninth seed Oceane Dodin,^[20] Sara Saito,^[21] fifth seed Erika Andreeva^[22] and Elsa Jacquemot.^[23][24] She lost the championship match to seventh seed Viktorija Golubic.^[25][26] Despite her defeat, Naef rose 28 places in the WTA rankings as a result of her run to the final, ending the 2024 season at World No.153.^[27]

Performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

P#

DNQ

A

Z#

PO

G

S

B

NMS

NTI

P

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.^[28]

Singles

Current through the 2024 Wuhan Open.

Tournament	2023	2024	SR	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	Q2	0 / 0	0–0
French Open	Q1	Q1	0 / 0	0–0
Wimbledon	1R	Q1	0 / 1	0–1
US Open	Q2	Q2	0 / 0	0–0
Win–loss	0–1	0–0	0 / 1	0–1
WTA 1000
Dubai / Qatar Open[a]	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Indian Wells Open	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Miami Open	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Madrid Open	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Italian Open	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Canadian Open	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Cincinnati Open	1R	A	0 / 1	0–1
Guadalajara Open	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Wuhan Open	NH	A	0 / 0	0–0
China Open	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Career statistics
	2023	2024	SR	W–L
Tournaments	5	1	Career total: 6
Titles	0		Career total: 0
Finals	0		Career total: 0
Hard win–loss	0–4	0–2	0 / 24	1–4
Clay win–loss	0–1		0 / 1	0–1
Grass win–loss	2–2	1–1	0 / 3	3–3
Overall win–loss	2–7	1–3	0 / 6	3–10
Year-end ranking	139

Junior Grand Slam tournament finals

Girls' doubles: 1 (runner-up)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2022	French Open	Clay	Nikola Bartůňková	Sára Bejlek Lucie Havlíčková	3–6, 3–6

WTA Challenger finals

Singles: (1 runner-up)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Dec 2024	Open de Limoges, France	Hard (i)	Viktorija Golubic	5–7, 4–6

Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-up)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Dec 2023	Andorrà la Vella Open, Andorra	Hard (i)	Erika Andreeva	Tímea Babos Heather Watson	6–2, 6–1
Loss	1–1	Jul 2024	Warsaw Open, Poland	Hard	Nina Stojanović	Weronika Falkowska Martyna Kubka	4–6, 6–7(5)
Loss	1–2	Dec 2024	Open Angers Arena Loire, France	Hard	Belinda Bencic	Monica Niculescu Elena-Gabriela Ruse	3–6, 4–6

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 9 (7 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Legend
W80 tournaments (1–0)
W60/75 tournaments (1–2)
W40/50 tournaments (1–0)
W25/35 tournaments (2–0)
W15 tournaments (2–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Mar 2022	ITF Monastir, Tunisia	W15	Hard	Lara Schmidt	3–6, 6–2, 7–5
Win	2–0	Oct 2022	ITF Reims, France	W15	Hard (i)	Manon Léonard	6–2, 6–7(3), 6–3
Win	3–0	Oct 2022	ITF Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, France	W25+H	Hard (i)	Irene Burillo Escorihuela	3–6, 7–5, 6–2
Win	4–0	Jan 2023	GB Pro-Series Loughborough, UK	W25+H	Hard (i)	Eliz Maloney	6–0, 6–4
Win	5–0	Jan 2023	Porto Indoor 1, Portugal	W40	Hard (i)	Lucrezia Stefanini	6–2, 6–4
Loss	5–1	Apr 2023	Chiasso Open, Switzerland	W60	Clay	Mirra Andreeva	6–1, 6–7(3), 0–6
Win	6–1	Sep 2023	ITF Le Neubourg, France	W80+H	Hard	Alina Korneeva	4–6, 6–2, 7–6(7)
Loss	6–2	Mar 2024	Trnava Indoor, Slovakia	W75	Hard (i)	Suzan Lamens	2–6, 2–6
Win	7–2	Nov 2024	ITF Pétange, Luxembourg	W75	Hard (i)	Océane Dodin	6–2, 6–4

Doubles: 7 (6 titles, 1 runner-ups)

Legend
W100 tournaments (1–0)
W75 tournaments (3–1)
W40/50 tournaments (1–0)
W15 tournaments (1–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Oct 2022	ITF Reims, France	W15	Hard (i)	Irina Balus	Mallaurie Noël Margot Yerolymos	6–2, 6–0
Win	2–0	Feb 2023	Porto Indoor 1, Portugal	W40	Hard (i)	Yanina Wickmayer	Alice Robbe Tara Würth	6–1, 6–4
Win	3–0	Feb 2024	Porto Indoor 3, Portugal	W75	Hard (i)	Anna Bondár	Francisca Jorge Matilde Jorge	6–4, 3–6, [11–9]
Win	4–0	May 2024	Zagreb Ladies Open, Croatia	W75	Clay	Laura Pigossi	Emily Appleton Prarthana Thombare	4–6, 6–1, [10–8]
Win	5–0	Aug 2024	Cary Tennis Classic, United States	W100	Hard	Tamara Zidanšek	Oksana Kalashnikova Iryna Shymanovich	4–6, 6–3, [11–9]
Win	6–0	Oct 2024	Internationaux de Poitiers, France	W75	Hard (i)	Anna-Lena Friedsam	Martyna Kubka Conny Perrin	6–4, 6–1
Loss	6–1	Feb 2025	Empire Women's Indoor, Slovakia	W75	Hard (i)	Elena Pridankina	Jesika Malečková Miriam Škoch	7–5, 3–6, [2–10]

Notes

1. The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Ladies Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009 to 2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.