Raluca Olaru

Ioana Raluca Olaru (born 3 March 1989) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. The winner of eleven singles and fifteen doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit,^[1] Olaru reached one WTA Tour singles final, at the 2009 Gastein Ladies,^[2] losing to Andrea Petkovic, in straight sets.^[3] She also won eleven doubles titles on WTA Tour tournaments.

Raluca Olaru

Olaru at the 2020 French Open
Full name	Ioana Raluca Olaru
Country (sports)	Romania
Residence	Bucharest, Romania
Born	(1989-03-03) 3 March 1989 (age 36) Bucharest
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Turned pro	2003
Retired	2024
Plays	Right-handed (two–handed backhand)
Prize money	US$ 1,770,957
Singles
Career record	258–186
Career titles	11 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 53 (27 July 2009)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	1R (2008, 2010)
French Open	3R (2007)
Wimbledon	2R (2009, 2010)
US Open	2R (2007, 2008)
Doubles
Career record	337–273
Career titles	11 WTA, 15 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 30 (31 January 2022)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	2R (2010, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022)
French Open	QF (2017)
Wimbledon	3R (2021, 2022)
US Open	3R (2015, 2021)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	Alt (2021)
Olympic Games	2R (2016, 2020)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	1R (2022)
French Open	2R (2019)
Wimbledon	QF (2019)
US Open	QF (2018)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	6–11

Olaru was a successful junior player. She was the runner–up in both junior singles and doubles at the 2005 French Open,^[4] and captured the 2006 US Open doubles title along with Mihaela Buzărnescu. Her best professional Grand Slam result has been the third round of the 2007 French Open, when she defeated the 30th seed Julia Vakulenko, in straight sets, and lost to eventual runner–up, the seventh seed Ana Ivanovic.^[5] Olaru reached her highest singles ranking, world No. 53, on 27 July 2009, and her best doubles ranking, No. 30, on 31 January 2022.^[1]

Olaru announced her retirement from tennis in June 2024.^[6]

Personal life

Ioana Raluca Olaru resides in her hometown Bucharest.^[7] Her parents, Adrian and Doina, run a convenience store together.^[8] Her sister Cristina is 16 years older than Olaru, and lives in London.^[8] Olaru began playing tennis aged seven,^[7] and cites Kim Clijsters,^[9] Martina Navratilova and Roger Federer as her role models.^[8] She graduated from school in 2007, and is fluent in English, Spanish and Romanian.^{[citation needed]}

Tennis career

Raluca started her 2017 season at Shenzhen Open where she reached the final with Olga Savchuk, but they lost 1–6, 5–7 to Peng Shuai and Andrea Hlaváčková. The following week, Olaru with Olga Savchuk won the doubles title at the Hobart International, it was her sixth WTA Tour doubles title.

Playing style

Olaru considers being a fighter as her biggest asset.^[8] She cites clay as her favourite surface^[7] and backhand down the line as favourite shot,^[9] but she can play well on all surfaces and she likes mixing her game with drop shots.^[8] Olaru is currently coached by Adrian Gavrila, Adrian Cruciat and Artemon Apostu Efremov.^[9]

Performance timelines

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (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, Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.

Singles

Tournament	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	...	2022	SR	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	1R	Q2	1R	Q2	A	Q1		A	0 / 2	0–2
French Open	3R	1R	1R	1R	Q1	A	Q1		A	0 / 4	2–4
Wimbledon	A	1R	2R	2R	Q1	A	Q1		A	0 / 3	2–3
US Open	2R	2R	1R	Q1	A	A	A			0 / 3	2–3
Win–loss	3–2	1–4	1–4	1–2	0–0	0–0	0–0		0–0	0 / 12	6–12

Doubles

Tournament	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	SR	W–L	Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	1R	A	2R	1R	A	A	2R	1R	2R	2R	2R	1R	1R	2R	2R	0 / 12	7–12	37%
French Open	A	A	A	1R	A	1R	A	A	A	1R	1R	1R	QF	1R	1R	1R	2R	1R	0 / 11	4–11	27%
Wimbledon	A	A	A	A	Q1	A	A	A	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	NH	3R	3R	0 / 9	5–9	36%
US Open	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	1R	3R	1R	1R	2R	2R	1R	3R	1R	0 / 10	6–10	38%
Win–loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–2	0–1	1–2	0–1	0–0	1–1	1–4	2–4	1–4	4–4	2–4	1–4	0–3	4–3	3–4	0 / 42	22–42	34%
National representation
Summer Olympics	NH			A	NH			A	NH			2R	NH				2R		2 / 2	2–2	50%
WTA 1000
Qatar / Dubai Open[1]	NMS			A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	1R	2R	A	QF	A	A	A	0 / 4	3–4	43%
Indian Wells Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	1R	1R	1R	QF	NH	1R	1R	0 / 7	3–7	30%
Miami Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	1R	1R	QF	NH	1R	1R	0 / 6	2–6	25%
Madrid Open	NH				A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	2R	A	A	1R	NH	2R	A	0 / 4	2–4	33%
Italian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	1R	F	1R	A	0 / 4	4–4	50%
Canadian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	A	A	A	2R	NH	A	A	0 / 2	3–1	75%
Cincinnati Open	NMS				A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	QF	2R	1R	A	1R	A	0 / 5	3–5	38%
Pan Pacific / Wuhan Open[2]	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	1R	A	1R	A	2R	NH			0 / 4	1–4	20%
China Open	NMS						A	A	A	2R	1R	A	2R	1R	1R	NH			0 / 5	2–5	29%
Career statistics
	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	SR	W–L	Win%
Tournaments	1	1	2	6	11	10	6	1	9	22	24	23	23	21	22	10	20	12	Career total: 224
Titles																			Career total:
Finals																			Career total:
Overall win-loss
Year-end ranking									73	55	54	74	36	44	48	43	36	155

Mixed doubles

Tournament	2015	2006	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	SR	W–L
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A		0 / 0	0–0
French Open	A	A	A	A	2R	NH	A		0 / 1	1–1
Wimbledon	3R	1R	2R	2R	QF	NH	A		0 / 5	6–5
US Open	A	A	2R	QF	2R	NH	A		0 / 3	4–3
Win–loss	2–1	0–1	2–2	3–2	4–3	0–0	0–0		0 / 9	11–9

Significant finals

Premier-Mandatory/Premier-5 tournaments

Doubles: 1 (runner-up)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2020	Italian Open	Clay	Anna-Lena Friedsam	Hsieh Su-wei Barbora Strýcová	2–6, 2–6

WTA Tour finals

Olaru at Wimbledon, 2013

Singles: 1 (runner-up)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Jul 2009	Gastein Ladies, Austria	International[a]	Clay	Andrea Petkovic	2–6, 3–6

Doubles: 24 (11 titles, 13 runner-ups)

Legend Grand Slam WTA 1000 (0–1) WTA 500 (1–2) WTA 250 (10–10)

Finals by surface Hard (7–5) Clay (4–7) Grass (0–1) Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Jul 2008	Budapest Grand Prix, Hungary	Tier III[a]	Clay	Vanessa Henke	Alizé Cornet Janette Husárová	7–6(7–5), 1–6, [6–10]
Win	1–1	Oct 2008	Tashkent Open, Uzbekistan	Tier IV[a]	Hard	Olga Savchuk	Nina Bratchikova Kathrin Wörle	5–7, 7–5, [10–7]
Win	2–1	Feb 2011	Mexican Open, Mexico	International	Hard	Mariya Koryttseva	Arantxa Parra Santonja Lourdes Domínguez Lino	5–7, 7–5, [10–7]
Loss	2–2	Apr 2013	Katowice Open, Poland	International	Clay (i)	Valeria Solovyeva	Lara Arruabarrena Lourdes Domínguez Lino	4–6, 5–7
Win	3–2	Jun 2013	Nuremberg Cup, Germany	International	Clay	Valeria Solovyeva	Anna-Lena Grönefeld Květa Peschke	2–6, 7–6(7–3), [11–9]
Loss	3–3	May 2014	Nuremberg Cup, Germany	International	Clay	Shahar Pe'er	Michaëlla Krajicek Karolína Plíšková	0–6, 6–4, [6–10]
Loss	3–4	Jul 2014	Baku Cup, Azerbaijan	International	Hard	Shahar Pe'er	Alexandra Panova Heather Watson	2–6, 6–7(3–7)
Win	4–4	Oct 2014	Linz Open, Austria	International	Hard (i)	Anna Tatishvili	Annika Beck Caroline Garcia	6–2, 6–1
Loss	4–5	May 2015	Nuremberg Cup, Germany	International	Clay	Lara Arruabarrena	Chan Hao-ching Anabel Medina Garrigues	4–6, 6–7(5–7)
Loss	4–6	Apr 2016	Rabat Grand Prix, Morocco	International	Clay	Tatjana Maria	Xenia Knoll Aleksandra Krunić	3–6, 0–6
Win	5–6	Oct 2016	Tashkent Open, Uzbekistan (2)	International	Hard	İpek Soylu	Demi Schuurs Renata Voráčová	7–5, 6–3
Loss	5–7	Jan 2017	Shenzhen Open, China	International	Hard	Olga Savchuk	Andrea Hlaváčková Peng Shuai	1–6, 5–7
Win	6–7	Jan 2017	Hobart International, Australia	International	Hard	Olga Savchuk	Gabriela Dabrowski Yang Zhaoxuan	0–6, 6–4, [10–5]
Win	7–7	Jul 2017	Bucharest Open, Romania	International	Clay	Irina-Camelia Begu	Elise Mertens Demi Schuurs	6–3, 6–3
Win	8–7	May 2018	Rabat Grand Prix, Morocco	International	Clay	Anna Blinkova	Georgina García Pérez Fanny Stollár	6–4, 6–4
Win	9–7	May 2018	Strasbourg International, France	International	Clay	Mihaela Buzărnescu	Nadiia Kichenok Anastasia Rodionova	7–5, 7–5
Loss	9–8	Sep 2018	Tashkent Open, Uzbekistan	International	Hard	Irina-Camelia Begu	Olga Danilović Tamara Zidanšek	5–7, 3–6
Loss	9–9	Oct 2018	Kremlin Cup, Russia	Premier[b]	Hard (i)	Darija Jurak	Alexandra Panova Laura Siegemund	2–6, 6–7(2–7)
Loss	9–10	Aug 2020	Prague Open, Czech Republic	International	Clay	Monica Niculescu	Lucie Hradecká Kristýna Plíšková	2–6, 2–6
Loss	9–11	Sep 2020	Italian Open, Italy	Premier 5[c]	Clay	Anna-Lena Friedsam	Hsieh Su-wei Barbora Strýcová	2–6, 2–6
Win	10–11	Mar 2021	St. Petersburg Trophy, Russia	WTA 500	Hard (i)	Nadiia Kichenok	Kaitlyn Christian Sabrina Santamaria	2–6, 6–3, [10–8]
Loss	10–12	Jun 2021	Bad Homburg Open, Germany	WTA 250	Grass	Nadiia Kichenok	Darija Jurak Andreja Klepač	3–6, 1–6
Win	11–12	Aug 2021	Chicago Open, United States	WTA 250	Hard	Nadiia Kichenok	Lyudmyla Kichenok Makoto Ninomiya	7–6(8–6), 5–7, [10–8]
Loss	11–13	Oct 2021	Kremlin Cup, Russia	WTA 500	Hard (i)	Nadiia Kichenok	Jeļena Ostapenko Kateřina Siniaková	2–6, 6–4, [8–10]

WTA Challenger finals

Doubles: 1 (runner-up)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	May 2016	Bol Ladies Open, Croatia	Clay	İpek Soylu	Xenia Knoll Petra Martić	3–6, 2–6

ITF Circuit finals

Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles: 18 (11 titles, 7 runner–ups)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Aug 2004	ITF Iași, Romania	10,000	Clay	Monica Niculescu	6–7, 0–6
Win	1–1	Apr 2005	ITF Herceg Novi, Serbia	10,000	Clay	Miljana Adanko	7–5, 7–6(2)
Win	2–1	Jul 2005	ITF Bucharest, Romania	10,000	Clay	Anna Bastrikova	6–3, 6–2
Win	3–1	Aug 2005	ITF Bucharest, Romania	10,000	Clay	Mădălina Gojnea	7–6(3), 7–5
Win	4–1	May 2006	ITF Bucharest, Romania	10,000	Clay	Sorana Cîrstea	1–6, 6–4, 6–1
Win	5–1	May 2006	ITF Rabat, Morocco	10,000	Clay	Samia Medjahdi	6–2, 2–6, 7–5
Loss	5–2	Jul 2006	ITF Mont-de-Marsan, France	25,000	Clay	Nina Bratchikova	4–6, 6–4, 0–6
Win	6–2	Nov 2006	ITF Toronto, Canada	25,000	Hard(i)	Carly Gullickson	6–3, 6–1
Win	7–2	Apr 2007	ITF Torrent, Spain	50,000	Clay	Andrea Petkovic	6–4, 5–7, 6–4
Loss	7–3	Apr 2007	ITF Catania, Italy	25,000	Clay	Darya Kustova	3–6, 6–2, 3–6
Win	8–3	Jul 2008	Contrexéville Open, France	50,000	Clay	Stéphanie Foretz	6–4, 6–2
Win	9–3	Jun 2009	Open de Marseille, France	100,000	Clay	Maša Zec Peškirič	6–7(4), 7–5, 6–4
Win	10–3	Jul 2011	ITF Bad Saulgau, Germany	25,000	Clay	Tatjana Maria	6–3, 3–6, 7–5
Loss	10–4	Apr 2012	ITF Pomezia, Italy	10,000	Clay	Aliaksandra Sasnovich	6–0, 1–6, 1–6
Loss	10–5	Oct 2012	ITF Brasília, Brazil	25,000	Clay	Timea Bacsinszky	5–7, 2–6
Loss	10–6	Nov 2012	ITF Asunción, Paraguay	25,000	Clay	Verónica Cepede Royg	7–5, 6–7(7), 2–6
Loss	10–7	Jan 2013	ITF Eilat, İsrael	10,000	Hard	Alla Kudryavtseva	7–6(4), 3–6, 2–6
Win	11–7	Mar 2013	ITF Antalya, Turkey	10,000	Clay	Jovana Jakšić	6–3, 7–5

Doubles: 31 (15 titles, 16 runner–ups)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Jun 2004	ITF Brașov, Romania	10,000	Clay	Lenore Lăzăroiu	Corina Corduneanu Alexandra Iacob	4–6, 5–7
Loss	0–2	Aug 2004	ITF Timișoara, Romania	10,000	Clay	Lenore Lăzăroiu	Sorana Cîrstea Gabriela Niculescu	1–6, 6–2, 2–6
Win	1–2	Sep 2004	ITF Cluj-Napoca, Romania	10,000	Clay	Corina Corduneanu	Veronika Raimrová Anamaria Sere	4–6, 6–0, 6–4
Win	2–2	Apr 2005	ITF Herceg Novi, Serbia	10,000	Clay	Antonia Xenia Tout	Aleksandra Lukič Patricia Vollmeier	6–4, 4–1 ret.
Win	3–2	July 2005	ITF Arad, Romania	10,000	Clay	Corina Corduneanu	Anna Bastrikova Vasilisa Davydova	6–1, 6–4
Win	4–2	Aug 2005	ITF Bucharest, Romania	10,000	Clay	Corina Corduneanu	Bianca Ioana Bonifate Sorana Cîrstea	6–1, 6–1
Win	5–2	Apr 2006	ITF Makarska, Croatia	10,000	Clay	Antonia Xenia Tout	Johanna Larsson Nadja Roma	6–4, 7–5
Loss	5–3	May 2006	ITF Bucharest, Romania	10,000	Clay	Simona Matei	Sorana Cîrstea Gabriela Niculescu	4–6, 6–0, 6–7(3)
Loss	5–4	May 2006	ITF Rabat, Morocco	10,000	Clay	María Fernanda Álvarez Terán	Bahia Mouhtassine Émilie Bacquet	w/o
Win	6–4	July 2006	ITF Mont-de-Marsan, France	25,000	Clay	Margalita Chakhnashvili	Akgul Amanmuradova Nina Bratchikova	7–5, 1–6, 6–1
Loss	6–5	Aug 2006	Ladies Open Hechingen, Germany	25,000	Clay	Kristina Antoniichuk	Eva Fislová Stanislava Hrozenská	3–6, 7–6(3), 3–6
Loss	6–6	Nov 2006	ITF Toronto, Canada	25,000	Hard (i)	Heidi El Tabakh	Angelika Bachmann Hana Šromová	4–6, 1–6
Win	7–6	Sep 2010	ITF Biella, Italy	100,000	Clay	Mariya Koryttseva	Andreja Klepač Aurélie Védy	7–5, 6–4
Loss	7–7	Sep 2010	Open de Saint Malo, France	100,000	Clay	Mariya Koryttseva	Petra Cetkovská Lucie Hradecká	4–6, 2–6
Loss	7–8	Sep 2011	Sofia Cup, Bulgaria	100,000	Clay	Alexandra Cadanțu	Nina Bratchikova Darija Jurak	4–6, 5–7
Win	8–8	Jan 2012	ITF Innisbrook, United States	25,000	Clay	Darya Kustova	Gioia Barbieri Nadejda Guskova	6–3, 6–1
Loss	8–9	Feb 2012	Copa Cali, Colombia	100,000	Clay	Alexandra Cadanțu	Karin Knapp Mandy Minella	4–6, 3–6
Win	9–9	Apr 2012	ITF Civitavecchia, Italy	25,000	Clay	Elena Bogdan	Claudia Giovine Marina Shamayko	6–3, 7–5
Win	10–9	Apr 2012	ITF Tunis, Tunisia	25,000	Clay	Elena Bogdan	Inés Ferrer Suárez Richèl Hogenkamp	6–4, 6–3
Loss	10–10	May 2012	ITF Casablanca, Morocco	25,000	Clay	Elena Bogdan	Olga Savchuk Renata Voráčová	1–6, 4–6
Loss	10–11	Jul 2012	Open Romania Ladies	100,000	Clay	Elena Bogdan	Irina-Camelia Begu Alizé Cornet	2–6, 0–6
Win	11–11	Aug 2012	ITF Mamaia, Romania	25,000	Clay	Elena Bogdan	Danka Kovinić Tadeja Majerič	7–6(4), 6–3
Loss	11–12	Sep 2012	ITF Sofia, Bulgaria	25,000	Clay	Marina Melnikova	Katarzyna Piter Barbara Sobaszkiewicz	5–7, 1–6
Win	12–12	Oct 2012	ITF Brasília, Brazil	25,000	Clay	Elena Bogdan	Timea Bacsinszky Julia Cohen	6–3, 3–6, [10–8]
Win	13–12	Nov 2012	ITF Buenos Aires, Argentina	25,000	Clay	Elena Bogdan	María Fernanda Álvarez Terán Maria Fernanda Alves	1–6, 6–2, [10–7]
Win	14–12	Jan 2013	ITF Eilat, Israel	10,000	Hard	Alla Kudryavtseva	Ilona Kremen Pemra Özgen	6–3, 6–3
Loss	14–13	Nov 2013	GB Pro-Series Barnstaple, UK	75,000	Hard (i)	Tamira Paszek	Naomi Broady Kristýna Plíšková	3–6, 6–3, [5–10]
Win	15–13	Jun 2015	Ilkley Trophy, UK	50,000	Grass	Xu Yifan	An-Sophie Mestach Demi Schuurs	6–3, 6–4
Loss	15–14	Aug 2015	Vancouver Open, Canada	100,000	Hard	Anna Tatishvili	Johanna Konta Maria Sanchez	6–7(5), 4–6
Loss	15–15	Sep 2016	Neva Cup, Russia	100,000	Hard (i)	Alena Tarasova	Maria Marfutina Anna Morgina	2–6, 3–6
Loss	15–16	May 2017	Open de Cagnes-sur-Mer, France	100,000	Clay	Renata Voráčová	Chang Kai-chen Hsieh Su-wei	5–7, 1–6

Notes

1. The WTA Tier III tournaments, WTA Tier IV tournaments and WTA Tier V tournaments were reclassified as WTA International tournaments in 2009 and later as WTA 250 tournaments in 2021.
2. The WTA Premier tournaments were reclassified as WTA 500 tournaments in 2021.
3. The WTA Premier 5 & Mandatory tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.