Dominique Monami (born 31 May 1973) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She is her country's first ever top-10 tennis professional.
Monami was born in Verviers. In 1995, she married her coach Bart Van Roost, with whom she has a daughter, and played under the name Dominique Van Roost for much of her career, until their divorce in 2003.
Career Monami won her first WTA Tour tournament in 1996 in Cardiff (Welsh Open). Before this win, she had been on the ITF circuit where she won seven ITF events, five of which in 1990. In 1997, she reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. The following year, Van Roost became the first ever Belgian tennis player (male or female) to reach the top 10 in WTA rankings.
Monami won a total of four WTA singles titles and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 9 in October 1998. In total, she participated in 36 Grand Slam tournaments during her career.
Another achievement for Van Roost came during the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney where she won the bronze medal in the women's doubles competition, partnering Els Callens. Also in doubles, she reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 1999 and 2000, and the semifinals of the 2000 US Open.
In November 2000, Monami ended her professional tennis career when she became pregnant by Bart Van Roost, whom she divorced later in 2003. Subsequently, in 2006, she married Erik Vink, a manager in Sony BMG.
After retiring from playing, Monami became involved in Belgian tennis in various capacities, including as a tournament director (Brussels Open) and as Fed Cup captain. She also wrote a book titled Een Kwestie van Karakter (Tout est dans le caractère). Monami was awarded Belgian Sports Personality of the Year in 1998.
Since October 2021 is Monami vice-president of the Belgian Olympic Committee.
Significant finals Olympics Doubles: 1 (bronze medal) OutcomeYearLocationSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore Bronze 2000 Sydney Hard Els Callens Olga Barabanschikova Natalia Zvereva 4–6, 6–4, 6–1
WTA career finals Legend Tier I (0–0) Tier II (0–3) Tier III (0–4) Tier IV (4–5)
Singles: 16 (4 titles, 12 runner-ups) ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1. Oct 1993 Montpellier Open, France Carpet (i) Elena Likhovtseva 3–6, 4–6Loss 2. Oct 1995 Bell Challenge, Canada Carpet (i) Brenda Schultz-McCarthy 6–7(5–7), 2–6Win 1. May 1996 British Clay Court Championships, UK Clay Laurence Courtois 6–4, 6–2Win 2. Jan 1997 Hobart International, Australia Hard Marianne Werdel 6–3, 6–3Win 3. Sep 1997 Surabaya International, Indonesia Hard Lenka Němečková 6–1, 6–3Loss 3. Oct 1997 Tournoi de Québec, Canada Carpet (i) Brenda Schultz-McCarthy 4–6, 7–6(7–4), 5–7Loss 4. Nov 1997 Pattaya Open, Thailand Hard Henrieta Nagyová 5–7, 7–6(6), 5–7Win 4. Jan 1998 Auckland Open, New Zealand Hard Silvia Farina 4–6, 7–6, 7–5Loss 5. Jan 1998 Hobart International, Australia Hard Patty Schnyder 3–6, 2–6Loss 6. Feb 1998 Paris Indoor, France Carpet (i) Mary Pierce 3–6, 5–7Loss 7. Feb 1998 Linz Open, Austria Carpet (i) Jana Novotná 1–6, 6–7(2–7)Loss 8. May 1998 Madrid Open, Spain Clay Patty Schnyder 6–3, 4–6, 0–6Loss 9. Jan 1999 Auckland Open, New Zealand Hard Julie Halard-Decugis 4–6, 1–6Loss 10. Sep 1999 Luxembourg Open Carpet (i) Kim Clijsters 2–6, 2–6Loss 11. Jun 2000 Eastbourne International, UK Grass Julie Halard-Decugis 6–7(4–7), 4–6Loss 12. Jul 2000 Knokke-Heist Trophy, Belgium Clay Anna Smashnova 2–6, 5–7
Doubles: 9 (4 titles, 5 runner-ups) ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1. May 1993 Belgian Open Clay Ann Devries Radka Bobková María José Gaidano 4–6, 6–2, 6–7(4–7)Win 1. Jul 1993 Austrian Open Clay Li Fang Maja Murić Pavlína Rajzlová 6–2, 6–1Loss 2. Oct 1993 Montpellier Open, France Carpet (i) Janette Husárová Meredith McGrath Claudia Porwik 6–3, 2–6, 6–7(3–7)Loss 3. Oct 1996 Luxembourg Open Carpet (i) Barbara Rittner Kristie Boogert Nathalie Tauziat 6–2, 4–6, 2–6Win 2. Jan 1997 Auckland Open, New Zealand Hard Janette Husárová Aleksandra Olsza Elena Pampoulova 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 6–3Loss 4. Jan 1997 Hobart International, Australia Hard Barbara Rittner Naoko Kijimuta Nana Miyagi 3–6, 1–6Loss 5. Nov 1997 Pattaya Open, Thailand Hard Florencia Labat Kristine Kunce Corina Morariu 3–6, 4–6Win 3. May 1998 Madrid Open, Spain Clay Florencia Labat Rachel McQuillan Nicole Pratt 6–3, 6–1Win 4. Aug 2000 LA Tennis Championships, U.S. Hard Els Callens Kimberly Po Anne-Gaëlle Sidot 6–2, 7–5
ITF finals Legend $100,000 tournaments $75,000 tournaments $50,000 tournaments $25,000 tournaments $10,000 tournaments
Singles: 8 (7–1) ResultNo.YearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1. 6 August 1990 ITF Koksijde, Belgium Clay Magdalena Feistel 6–2, 6–1Win 2. 17 September 1990 ITF Napoli, Italy Clay Klára Bláhová 6–3, 6–2Win 3. 24 September 1990 ITF Napoli, Italy Clay Catarina Bernstein 4–6, 6–4, 6–2Win 4. 15 October 1990 ITF Burgdorf, Switzerland Carpet (i) Sabine Lohmann 5–7, 6–2, 6–4Win 5. 22 October 1990 ITF Lyss, Switzerland Clay Katja Meichelbock 6–2, 6–2Loss 1. 12 November 1990 ITF Swindon, United Kingdom Carpet (i) Sandrine Testud 4–6, 4–6Win 6. 27 February 1995 ITF Southampton, UK Carpet (i) Angela Kerek 0–6, 6–4, 6–3Win 7. 29 September 1996 ITF Limoges, France Hard (i) Åsa Carlsson 2–6, 7–6(4), 6–1
Doubles: 2 (1–1) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1. 27 February 1995 ITF Southampton, UK Carpet (i) Andrea Temesvari Seda Noorlander Christína Papadáki 6–4, 6–2Loss 1. 28 September 1996 ITF Limoges, France Hard (i) Caroline Dhenin Natalia Medvedeva Larisa Neiland 1–6, 1–6
Singles performance timeline
Tournament 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 SR W–L W% Australian Open A 4R 2R 1R Q1 2R QF 3R QF 2R 0 / 8 15–8 French Open Q1 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 3R 3R 1R 2R 0 / 9 6–9 Wimbledon A 1R 1R 3R 2R 3R 1R 4R 4R 1R 0 / 9 11–9 US Open 3R 2R 2R 1R 2R 1R 1R 3R 3R 2R 0 / 10 10–10 Year-end championships Tour Championships A A A A A A A QF QF A 0 / 2 2–2 Tier I tournaments TokyoTier II A 1R A A A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0% Indian WellsTier II A 3R 1R 4R 0 / 3 4–3 Miami A A A 2R 3R 2R 2R 2R 2R 3R 0 / 7 5–6 Berlin A A A A A A A 1R 2R A 0 / 2 1–2 Rome A A A 1R A A 3R 3R QF 2R 0 / 5 8–5 Montreal / Toronto A 1R A A A A A 2R A 1R 0 / 3 1–3 MoscowT VNot HeldTier III SF A SF A 0 / 2 6–2 ZürichTier II A A A A 2R QF QF 1R 0 / 4 5–4 Year-end ranking 129 100 59 133 43 46 18 12 14 24
Head-to-head record Record vs. top 10 players Martina Hingis 1–5 Venus Williams 1–2 Serena Williams 1–1 Kim Clijsters 1–1 Elena Dementieva 1–0 Lisa Raymond 1–1 Mary Pierce 0–5 Barbara Schett 3–1 Julie Halard-Decugis 2–2 Lindsay Davenport 2–1 Nadia Petrova 1–0 Jennifer Capriati 0–2 Monica Seles 0–3 Amanda Coetzer 4–1
References
External links
Official website