Yanina Wickmayer was born in Lier, Belgium on October 20, 1989, to Marc and Daniella Wickmayer. Her first tennis experience came on the local courts near her home at the age of nine. In 2004, Wickmayer started competing on the ITF Circuit and also attempted qualifying at the WTA event in Hasselt. However, it would be two years before the Belgian player started enjoying success.
In 2006, she won five titles at ITF-level events, three in singles and two in doubles. By 2008, Wickmayer was on the fringes of the WTA Tour. She made her Grand Slam debut in that season and played her first major match at the 2008 Roland Garros, losing in round one.
The Belgian player then progressed to the opening rounds at Wimbledon and the US Open. Wickmayer’s breakthrough followed in 2009. She had accelerated progress and won her first two WTA titles in Oeiras and Linz. In addition, she produced one of her best-ever Grand Slam runs, making the US Open semi-final before losing to Caroline Wozniacki.
She continued her progress in 2010, winning the ASB Classic in Auckland for a third career title. Wickmayer then had good runs at Indian Wells and the Miami Open and climbed to 13th in the WTA Rankings. Further strong runs came at Wimbledon, where Wickmamyer reached round three, while she also progressed to the last 16 at the US Open.
Wickmayer almost defended her Auckland Open title in 2011 but lost against Greta Arn in the final. She also went far at Indian Wells, making the semi-finals before losing to Marion Bartoli. However, an injury in the US Open second round ruled her out for the remainder of the season.
Wickmayer showed signs of a promising return in 2012 as she made the Hobart International final but lost against Mona Barthel. Yet some patchy form followed in the spring and suffered a first-round exit at the Roland Garros. She hit back with a final run at the Gastein Ladies and lost to Alize Cornet.
The Belgian also played at the Olympics during the 2012 season and lost in the second round. A season of struggle came in 2013 as Wickmayer. Despite making the Auckland final and reaching round three at the Australian Open, the Belgian player’s form dipped and she finished the season outside the Top 50.
Another season of difficulties came in 2014. Wickmayer was unable to discover her top form and suffered a string of early exits. Before the end of the season, she announced that she had Lyme disease and she took the Asian leg of the WTA Tour off to recover.
Two impressive years followed on the WTA Tour. Wickmayer lifted two more titles in this period - the Japan Open in 2015 and the Citi Open in Washington in 2016. In addition, the Belgian player won the Washington Open doubles title in 2016 alongside Monica Niculescu.
However, 2017 saw her have another dip in form. Wickmayer made several quarter-final stages throughout the season, but early exits at the majors and other tournaments saw the Belgian drop out of the Top 100. A similar campaign came in 2018 and Wickmayer failed to qualify for the Australian Open main draw.
In 2018, her best result on the WTA was at Wimbledon, where she reached round three. To cap a difficult campaign, Wickmayer suffered late-season injuries before the Asian swing and fell to 113th in the rankings. Wickmayer played several lower-ranked events in 2019 and reached two WTA 125 finals, but lost both.
Yet she continued to struggle at WTA level and made just one Grand Slam main draw at Wimbledon. After a first-round US Open exit in 2020, Wickmayer took a hiatus from tennis.
During her off-period, Wickmayer also gave birth to her daughter and eventually returned to the tour in February 2022. Since returning, Wickmayer has reached four Grand Slam main draws and she won the 2022 Korea Open doubles title with Kristina Mladenovic.
