Raquel Atawo (née Kops-Jones; born December 8, 1982) is an American former professional tennis player, who is currently the head woman's tennis coach for the Washington State Cougars.

Raquel Atawo
Country (sports) United States
ResidenceFresno, California
Born (1982-12-08) December 8, 1982 (age 41)
Fresno
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro2000
Retired2019
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$2,345,304
Singles
Career record144–138
Career titles0 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 162 (October 8, 2007)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQ2 (2007)
French OpenQ2 (2007)
WimbledonQ1 (2007, 2008)
US OpenQ3 (2007)
Doubles
Career record457–327
Career titles18 WTA, 18 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 10 (March 2, 2015)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenSF (2014)
French Open3R (2008)
WimbledonSF (2015, 2016)
US OpenQF (2008)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian OpenQF (2010)
French Open3R (2014)
Wimbledon2R (2013, 2014, 2016, 2019)
US OpenQF (2019)
Raquel Atawo
Current position
TitleHead Coach
TeamWashington State Cougars
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2017–2018UC Davis Aggies (volunteer assistant)
2019–2020California Golden Bears (volunteer assistant)
2020Auburn Tigers (assistant)
2021–presentWashington State Cougars

She is primarily a doubles specialist, winning 18 WTA doubles titles, including two Premier-5 titles at the 2012 Toray Pan Pacific Open and the 2014 Cincinnati Masters, and reaching the semifinals of the 2014 Australian Open, 2015 Wimbledon Championships and 2016 Wimbledon Championships, all alongside her regular partner, fellow American Abigail Spears.

Before serving as the head coach at Washington State, Atawo was an assistant women's tennis coach for Auburn University[1] and a volunteer coach for University of California women's tennis.[2]

Biography

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Raquel's mother is Nancy Kops, and her father is Lawrence Jones. She has two sisters, Renee and Khristy. She married Toby Atawo on July 18, 2015.[3]

Career

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Her best results in doubles at Grand Slam events have been reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open in 2014 and Wimbledon in 2015 and 2016, both while partnered with Abigail Spears. Kops-Jones has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 10, achieved on March 2, 2015. She won 18 WTA doubles titles.

In 2008, she played for the Boston Lobsters, and in 2019, played for the Philadelphia Freedoms—both teams in the World TeamTennis Pro League.

2012

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Kops-Jones and compatriot Abigail Spears were one of the most successful doubles teams of the 2012 season, winning four titles, at Carlsbad, Seoul, Tokyo, and Osaka. The pair also reached two other finals and the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.

Significant finals

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Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 tournaments

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

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Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 2012 Qatar Open Hard   Abigail Spears   Liezel Huber
  Lisa Raymond
3–6, 1–6
Winner 2012 Tokyo Open Hard   Abigail Spears   Anna-Lena Grönefeld
  Květa Peschke
6–1, 6–4
Winner 2014 Cincinnati Open Hard   Abigail Spears   Tímea Babos
  Kristina Mladenovic
6–1, 2–0 ret.

WTA Tour finals

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Doubles: 26 (18 titles, 8 runner-ups)

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Winner — Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
Tier I / Premier M & Premier 5 (2–1)
Tier II / Premier (9–4)
Tier III, IV & V / International (7–3)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. Nov 2007 Bell Challenge, Quebec City Hard   Christina Fusano   Stéphanie Dubois
  Renata Voráčová
6–3, 7–6(8–6)
Win 2. May 2009 Estoril Open, Portugal Clay   Abigail Spears   Sharon Fichman
  Katalin Marosi
2–6, 6–3, [10–5]
Win 3. May 2009 Warsaw Open, Poland Clay   Bethanie Mattek-Sands   Yan Zi
  Zheng Jie
6–1, 6–1
Loss 1. Jun 2009 Birmingham Classic, UK Grass   Abigail Spears   Cara Black
  Liezel Huber
1–6, 4–6
Loss 2. Aug 2011 San Diego Open, United States Hard   Abigail Spears   Květa Peschke
  Katarina Srebotnik
0–6, 2–6
Win 4. Sep 2011 Bell Challenge, Canada (2) Hard   Abigail Spears   Jamie Hampton
  Anna Tatishvili
6–0, 3–6, [10–6]
Loss 3. Jan 2012 Brisbane International, Australia Hard   Abigail Spears   Nuria Llagostera Vives
  Arantxa Parra Santonja
6–7(2–7), 6–7(2–7)
Loss 4. Feb 2012 Qatar Ladies Open, Doha Hard   Abigail Spears   Liezel Huber
  Lisa Raymond
3–6, 1–6
Win 5. Jul 2012 San Diego Open, US Hard   Abigail Spears   Vania King
  Nadia Petrova
6–2, 6–4
Win 6. Sep 2012 Korea Open, Seoul Hard   Abigail Spears   Akgul Amanmuradova
  Vania King
2–6, 6–2, [10–8]
Win 7. Sep 2012 Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo Hard   Abigail Spears   Anna-Lena Grönefeld
  Květa Peschke
6–1, 6–4
Win 8. Oct 2012 Osaka Open, Japan Hard   Abigail Spears   Kimiko Date-Krumm
  Heather Watson
6–1, 6–4
Win 9. Jul 2013 Stanford Classic, US Hard   Abigail Spears   Julia Görges
  Darija Jurak
6–2, 7–6(7–4)
Win 10. Aug 2013 San Diego Open, US (2) Hard   Abigail Spears   Chan Hao-ching
  Janette Husárová
6–4, 6–1
Loss 5. Sep 2013 Korea Open, South Korea Hard   Abigail Spears   Chan Chin-wei
  Xu Yifan
5–7, 3–6
Loss 6. Feb 2014 Dubai Tennis Championships, U.A.E. Hard   Abigail Spears   Alla Kudryavtseva
  Anastasia Rodionova
2–6, 7–5, [8–10]
Win 11. Jun 2014 Birmingham Classic, UK Grass   Abigail Spears   Ashleigh Barty
  Casey Dellacqua
7–6(7–1), 6–1
Win 12. Aug 2014 Cincinnati Open, US Hard   Abigail Spears   Tímea Babos
  Kristina Mladenovic
6–1, 2–0 ret.
Loss 7. Jan 2015 Sydney International, Australia Hard   Abigail Spears   Bethanie Mattek-Sands
  Sania Mirza
3–6, 3–6
Win 13. Feb 2015 Qatar Ladies Open, Doha Hard   Abigail Spears   Hsieh Su-wei
  Sania Mirza
6–4, 6–4
Win 14. Jun 2015 Nottingham Open, UK Grass   Abigail Spears   Jocelyn Rae
  Anna Smith
3–6, 6–3, [11–9]
Win 15. Oct 2015 Ladies Linz, Austria Hard (i)   Abigail Spears   Andrea Hlaváčková
  Lucie Hradecká
6–3, 7–5
Win 16. Jul 2016 Stanford Classic, US (2) Hard   Abigail Spears   Darija Jurak
  Anastasia Rodionova
6–3, 6–4
Win 17. Apr 2017 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart Clay (i)   Jeļena Ostapenko   Abigail Spears
  Katarina Srebotnik
6–4, 6–4
Win 18. Apr 2018 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart (2) Clay (i)   Anna-Lena Grönefeld   Nicole Melichar
  Květa Peschke
6–4, 6–7(5–7), [10–5]
Loss 8. Oct 2018 Linz Open, Austria (2) Hard (i)   Anna-Lena Grönefeld   Kirsten Flipkens
  Johanna Larsson
6–4, 4–6, [5–10]

Doubles performance timeline

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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.
Tournament 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A A A 2R 2R 3R 1R 2R SF QF 2R QF 3R QF 0 / 11 21–11
French Open A A A A A 3R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R 2R 2R 0 / 12 7–12
Wimbledon A A A A 1R 3R 1R 1R 2R QF 3R 3R SF SF 1R 2R 2R 0 / 13 20–13
US Open 1R 1R A A A QF 1R 1R 1R 3R 2R 1R 3R 1R 2R 3R 1R 0 / 14 11–14
Win–loss 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–1 7–3 1–4 1–4 3–4 6–4 4–4 7–4 9–4 6–4 4–4 6–4 5–4 0 / 50 59–50
Premier Mandatory tournaments
Indian Wells A A A A A 2R 2R 2R 2R 1R 1R 2R 1R QF 1R 2R 2R 0 / 12 9–12
Miami A A A A A A QF 1R 1R 1R 1R SF 1R A 2R QF 1R 0 / 10 8–10
Madrid Not Held 1R 1R 1R 1R QF QF 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R 0 / 11 4–11
Beijing NH Tier II 2R A QF QF QF QF 1R 1R 1R 2R A 0 / 9 9–9
Premier 5 tournaments
Dubai Tier II 2R 1R 1R Premier 1R P 1R P 1R 0 / 6 0–6
Doha T III Tier II A Not Held P F SF 2R P 2R P 1R P 0 / 5 8–5
Rome A A A A A A A 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R QF A SF 1R 0 / 9 5–9
Montreal/Toronto A A A A A A A A 2R 2R QF QF 2R 2R 2R 1R A 0 / 8 9–8
Cincinnati NH Tier III A 1R 1R 2R 1R W 2R QF 2R 1R 1R 1 / 10 10–9
Tokyo A A A A A A QF A QF W 1R Premier 1 / 4 6–3
Wuhan Not Held SF QF QF 2R 1R A 0 / 5 7–5
Career statistics
Tournaments played 2 1 ITF only 6 9 23 25 26 25 24 22 25 24 23 23 19
Titles 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 4 2 2 3 1 1 1 0 18
Finals reached 0 0 1 0 3 0 2 6 3 3 4 1 1 2 0 26
Overall win–loss 0–2 0–1 5–5 10–9 21–21 12–25 25–25 42–21 27–22 38–20 33–23 30–23 19–21 23–22 13–18 298–258
Year-end ranking 620 677 312 152 93 55 36 63 37 13 23 12 18 21 34 26 57

References

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  1. ^ "Raquel Atawo named Auburn women's tennis assistant coach". Auburn University Athletics. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  2. ^ Staff, Spencer Golanka | Senior (September 13, 2019). "Former Bear Raquel Atawo joins women's tennis coaching staff". The Daily Californian. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  3. ^ WTAtennis.com biography
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