Abigail Spears
Abigail Michal Spears is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Spears won 21 double titles including the 2017 Australian Open.
Spears started playing tennis in 1988 when she was 7 years old, and turned professional in 2000. Spears and compatriot, Raquel Kops-Jones, were one of the most successful doubles team of the [2012 Women's Tennis Association|WTA Tour|2012 season], winning four tour titles and reaching the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. In 2017, Spears partnered with Juan Sebastián Cabal at the Australian Open to win the mixed-doubles tournament. After being suspended for much of the 2020 and 2021 seasons, Spears retired in September 2021.
Biography
July 12, 1981 Abigail Spears was born in San Diego, California, she is a distant relation of the well known singer Britney Spears.2000–2010
Spears turned professional in 2000. She reached the third round at the 2005 Australian Open and the first round at the 2005 French Open, 2005 Wimbledon tournament, and the [2005 US Open (tennis)|US Open (tennis)|2005 US Open]. She reached the third round at the 2008 Wimbledon doubles tournament with Raquel Kops-Jones, and the duo bettered that result by reaching the quarterfinals at the 2008 US Open.Spears also qualified in singles for the US Open twice. She achieved a singles ranking of world No. 66 on June 6, 2005. Her highest doubles ranking was world No. 11 on June 24, 2013. Spears has not won a WTA singles title, but as of the end of December 2018 she has won 21 WTA doubles titles. She participated in the US Open doubles draw eleven times between 1998 and 2010.
2010-2020
Spears and compatriot Raquel Kops-Jones were one of the most successful doubles team of the 2012 season, winning four titles at Carlsbad, Seoul, Tokyo and Osaka. The pair also reached two other finals as well as the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.2017 was expected to be Spears' farewell year on tour. At the Australian Open, she partnered with Juan Sebastián Cabal to win the mixed-doubles tournament. In the final, they defeated the second-seeded team of Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig in straight sets. The American-Colombian duo recovered from a 1–4 deficit in the second set to reel off five straight games to clinch the title. It was a revenge match for Spears, having lost to Mirza the last time she made it to a Grand Slam final losing 9–11 in the super tiebreak to Mirza and Bruno Soares at the 2014 US Open.
Retirement
Spears was suspended for 22 months doping offences from 7 November 2019 until 6 September 2021. She retired from the pro tour on 16 September 2021.In 2023, Spears played at the Peak Tennis Pro Am charity event in Missoula, Montana along with others such as Mats Wilander. In April 2024, Spears played at annual Gootter-Jensen charity event in Tucson along with Kim Clijsters and others.
Personal life
Aside from tennis, Spears enjoys watching movies and going to the beach to surf or play beach volleyball. Her idols were Steffi Graf and Monica Seles.WTA career finals
Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)
| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score | |||||||||||||
| Loss | 1. | Nov 2004 | Bell Challenge, Quebec City, Canada | Hard |  Doubles: 31 (21 titles, 10 runner-ups)
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