Tozia, Natalie

Natalie Tozza was born in the Central African Republic . Her family moved to France when she was 8 years old. The first tennis coach was journalist Xavier d'O; from the age of 13, Natalie trained with Regis de Camare.

Already in 1985, she held her first matches for the French national team in the Federation Cup . She won her first professional tournament in San Antonio in 1985 (paired with compatriot Isabelle Demonjo , under the auspices of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) . Demonjo for several years remained her main partner in the pair competitions; together they won 4 tournaments of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) in the years 1987-1989 and played twice in the finals, and reached the quarter finals at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul , where they were stopped by future champions Zina Harrison and Pam Shriver, who again made up a couple four years later, at the Bar Olympics Celone , and again reached the quarter finals, this time losing to future vice champions Aranche Sanchez and Conchite Martinez .

Tozia won her first ITF singles tournament in 1987 in Limoges , and her first WTA singles tournament in Bayonne, France in 1990. In early 1988, she was already one of the twenty strongest tennis players in the world in singles. Within a year, she wins her first victory over a top ten tennis player, Natalya Zvereva , on her way to the final of the tournament in New Jersey , where she lost (for the fourth time this season) Steffi Graf .

In 1990, Tozza entered his first semifinal of the Grand Slam at the French Open , paired with Judit Wiesner . This result at the French Open, she later showed four more times. The following year, at the French Open, she reaches the quarter finals in singles, where the Count loses. At the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, she was seeded tenth in singles, but loses in the second round.

At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Tozia dropped out of singles in the first round. In doubles, she and Marie Pierce lose in the second round to future champions, Gigi and Mary-Joe Fernandez .

In 1997, after four consecutive defeats in the semifinals, Tozia wins the Federation Cup with the French team; in this draw, she won all four of her matches since the quarterfinals. In the same year, another of her compatriots, Alexandra Fusai, became Tozia’s permanent partner. With Fusai, they win two tournaments in their first season, play four more times in the finals, as well as in the semifinals of the French Open, and reach the final of the WTA final tournament , where Lindsay Davenport and Yana Novotnaya are inferior. In singles, Tozza makes it to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, plays in three finals of tournaments of a lower rank (one victory) and in the semifinals of the final tournament of the year goes to the semifinals, defeating the fourth racket of the world Amanda Kötzer and the sixth racket of the world Ivu Mayoli .

In 1998, at the age of thirty, Tozia first entered the top ten of the WTA singles after her highest success in singles - reaching the final of the Wimbledon tournament. In the quarterfinals, she defeated the second racket of the world, Davenport, and in the final, lost to Yana Novotnaya. For the second time in a row with Fusai, they reach the final of the final tournament of the year, this time losing to Davenport and Zvereva. In addition, they won three tournaments in a season and played three more in the finals.

1999 also became a success in Tozia's solo career (two tournaments won, including a category I tournament in Moscow , and a semifinal of the final tournament of the year, where she was defeated by future champion Davenport). With Fusai, they win two tournaments and play four more finals.

After winning a tournament in Paris in February 2000, Tozia in May of that year took his highest, third place in the ranking of tennis players in singles. By this time, she was 32 and a half years old - a record age for a tennis player, first entering the top three in the Open Era . In the same year, she published an autobiography ( French: Les Dessous du tennis féminin ), containing critical reviews of some of her teammates in France. As a result, it was decided not to include her in the national team at the Sydney Olympics , which was supposed to be the last in the career of a 32-year-old tennis player; The French Tennis Federation at the same time denied any connection between the decision and the publication of an autobiography, claiming that the selection was made based on the athletic form of the applicants. ^[one]

2001 was the last year in Tozia's singles career, winning his last singles tournament this year. She also set the French Open by playing it for the eighteenth time in singles. This year, she reached third place in the doubles rankings of tennis players after reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open, the Wimbledon semi-final and the US Open with American Kimberly Poe . In the final tournament of the year, they lost in the semifinals to Kara Black and Elena Likhovtseva . Likhovtseva was the last partner with whom Tozia managed to win the WTA tournament; it happened two months earlier. She won two more tournaments this year with Aranta Sanchez and Poe.

Tozia completed her sporting event after the French Open 2003, where she, as in other tournaments in the last year and a half, played only in doubles. After that, she once appeared on the court at the ITF tournament in Cagnes-sur-Mer at the age of 38 and a half.

In 2004, Natalie Tozia was awarded the Legion of Honor for her contribution to the development of international tennis.

Singles (1)

Defeat (1)

Women's Doubles (1)

Defeat (1)

Singles (8)

Doubles (25)

Singles

Doubles

• WTA Website Profile
• Profile on the Federation Cup website