Nicole Bradtke

Nicole Bradtke
Country (sports)
Residence	Melbourne
Born	22 September 1969 (age 54); Melbourne, Australia
Turned pro	1986
Retired	1997
Plays	Right-handed (two handed backhand)
Prize money	$1,298,912
Singles
Career record	243–191
Career titles	3 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 24 (24 May 1993)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	4R (1989, 1993)
French Open	SF (1988)
Wimbledon	4R (1995)
US Open	3R (1987)
Doubles
Career record	222–164
Career titles	9 WTA
Highest ranking	No. 11 (6 April 1992)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	3R (1992, 1996)
French Open	SF (1988, 1990)
Wimbledon	SF (1989)
US Open	SF (1989)
Mixed doubles
Career titles	2
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	W (1992)
French Open	F (1990)
Wimbledon	F (1987)
US Open	W (1992)
Medal record
Olympic Games – Tennis

Nicole Bradtke (née Provis) (born 22 September 1969) is a retired professional tennis player from Australia.

Bradtke won three singles and nine doubles titles on the WTA Tour. She reached the semifinals of the 1988 French Open, and won a bronze medal in doubles at the 1992 Summer Olympics, partnering Rachel McQuillan. In mixed doubles, she reached four Grand Slam finals, winning two of those partnering Mark Woodforde. Bradtke reached career-high rankings of No. 24 in singles and No. 11 in doubles. She retired from professional tennis in 1997 after a shoulder injury.

Professional career

The young Nicole Provis (Bradtke) started playing tennis at the age of seven. Whilst still at school, she played her first professional tennis match in 1985, and made her debut at the Australian Open later that year. She found early success in mixed doubles, finishing runner-up at the 1987 Wimbledon Championships with Darren Cahill.

Bradtke burst into prominence in 1988, when she made the semifinals of the French Open as a relative unknown. She beat Sybille Niox-Château, Emmanuelle Derly before defeating two seeded players, Claudia Kohde-Kilsch and Sylvia Hanika, as well as Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (who had earlier beaten Chris Evert) before losing to Natasha Zvereva, despite holding two match points.

In early 1989, she reached the top 30, but failed to fulfill her early promise and quickly settled into the lower top 100 range, despite making further fourth rounds at the 1989 Australian Open and the 1990 French Open and winning her first title at home in Brisbane in 1992.

She then went on to great success in mixed doubles, winning both the 1992 Australian Open and the 1992 US Open with her partner, Mark Woodforde; and women's doubles, earning a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

She enjoyed a minor resurgence in singles in 1993, winning her second tour title in Kuala Lumpur and reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open. She also earned her biggest career victory during that year, beating world No. 1 Steffi Graf in a Fed Cup tie.^[1] Bradtke later helped Australia to reach the final, where they lost to the Spanish team.

After playing only eight events in 1994, she dropped out of the top 100, before recovering in 1995, earning another big victory over Gabriela Sabatini at the tournament in Berlin and returning to the top 40 in the world.

Bradtke retired after the 1997 Australian Open.

Personal life

She is married to Mark Bradtke, a former Australian professional basketball player, since 1994. Together they have two boys, Austin (born 2000) and Jensen (born 2004), and run an indoor sports centre in Melbourne. She previously served as a coach for the Australian Fed Cup team, as well as undertaking private coaching. She has worked with fellow Australians Samantha Stosur and Alicia Molik. In 2007, she joined the National High Performance Academy team.

Her sister Natasha is married to Todd Woodbridge, making him her brother-in-law.^[2]

Her eldest son Austin was selected by the Melbourne Football Club as a category B rookie in 2019 but delisted in 2021 without playing a senior game.^[3]

Grand Slam finals

Mixed doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runners-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1987	Wimbledon	Grass	Darren Cahill	Jo Durie Jeremy Bates	7–6^(12–10), 6–3
Loss	1990	French Open	Clay	Danie Visser	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Jorge Lozano	7–6^(7–5), 7–6^(10–8)
Win	1992	Australian Open	Hard	Mark Woodforde	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Todd Woodbridge	6–3, 4–6, 11–9
Win	1992	US Open	Hard	Mark Woodforde	Helena Suková Tom Nijssen	4–6, 6–3, 6–3

WTA career finals

Singles (3–1)

Legend
Grand Slam (0)
Tour Championships (0)
Tier I (0)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (0)
Tier IV (3)
Tier V (0)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Jan 1992	Brisbane, Australia	Hard	Rachel McQuillan	6–3, 6–2
Win	2–0	Apr 1993	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Hard (i)	Ann Grossman	6–3, 6–2
Loss	2–1	May 1993	Lucerne, Switzerland	Clay	Lindsay Davenport	1–6, 6–4, 2–6
Win	3–1	Jan 1995	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Ginger Helgeson	3–6, 6–2, 6–1

Doubles (9–4)

Legend
Grand Slam (0)
Tour Championships (0)
Tier I (1)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (1)
Tier IV (5)
Tier V (2)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	May 1988	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Manon Bollegraf	Jenny Byrne Janine Thompson	7–5, 6–7^(11–13), 6–3
Win	2–0	Aug 1989	Albuquerque, US	Hard	Elna Reinach	Raffaella Reggi Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	4–6, 6–4, 6–2
Win	3–0	May 1990	Berlin, West Germany	Clay	Elna Reinach	Hana Mandlíková Jana Novotná	6–2, 6–1
Win	4–0	May 1990	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Elna Reinach	Kathy Jordan Elizabeth Smylie	6–1, 6–4
Loss	4–1	May 1991	Rome, Italy	Clay	Elna Reinach	Jennifer Capriati Monica Seles	5–7, 2–6
Loss	4–2	May 1991	Berlin, Germany	Clay	Elna Reinach	Larisa Savchenko Natalia Zvereva	3–6, 3–6
Win	5–2	May 1991	Geneva, Switzerland	Clay	Elizabeth Smylie	Cathy Caverzasio Manuela Maleeva	6–1, 6–2
Win	6–2	Jun 1991	Birmingham, UK	Grass	Elizabeth Smylie	Sandy Collins Elna Reinach	6–3, 6–4
Loss	6–3	Jan 1992	Brisbane, Australia	Hard	Manon Bollegraf	Jana Novotná Larisa Neiland	4–6, 3–6
Win	7–3	Feb 1992	Oklahoma, US	Hard (i)	Lori McNeil	Katrina Adams Manon Bollegraf	3–6, 6–4, 7–6^(8–6)
Win	8–3	Jan 1993	Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Nathalie Tauziat	Cammy MacGregor Shaun Stafford	1–6, 6–3, 6–3
Loss	8–4	Jun 1995	Birmingham, UK	Grass	Kristine Kunce	Manon Bollegraf Rennae Stubbs	6–3, 4–6, 4–6
Win	9–4	May 1996	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Yayuk Basuki	Marianne Witmeyer Tami Jones	5–7, 6–4, 6–4

ITF Circuit finals

Singles (4–0)

$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	31 October 1986	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Michelle Bowrey	6–3, 6–3
Winner	2.	3 December 1989	Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Kate McDonald	1–6, 6–0, 7–5
Winner	3.	27 November 1994	Bendigo, Australia	Hard	Annabel Ellwood	6–4, 6–7, 6–2
Winner	4.	17 December 1995	Nuriootpa, Australia	Hard	Rachel McQuillan	7–5, 6–0

Doubles (0–1)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	31 October 1986	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Louise Field	Michelle Jaggard-Lai Lisa O'Neill	w/o

References

^ "Bookies favour Stosur to lift French Open crown".
^ Daffey, Paul (13 February 2005). "Best sporting love matches". The Age. Melbourne.
^ Cleary, Mitch (23 May 2018). "Demons win race for sporting thoroughbred". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 3 August 2018.

External links

Nicole Bradtke at the Women's Tennis Association
Nicole Bradtke at the International Tennis Federation
Nicole Bradtke at the Billie Jean King Cup
Nicole Bradtke at Tennis Australia

[1] "Bookies favour Stosur to lift French Open crown".

[2] Daffey, Paul (13 February 2005). "Best sporting love matches". The Age. Melbourne.

[3] Cleary, Mitch (23 May 2018). "Demons win race for sporting thoroughbred". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 3 August 2018.

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