Françoise Abanda (born February 5, 1997) is a Canadian professional tennis player. She reached her highest WTA singles ranking of 111 on October 9, 2017, and her highest WTA doubles ranking of 197 on September 8, 2014. She achieved a career-high combined junior rank of No. 4 on April 29, 2013.
Early life
Françoise started playing tennis at age seven, after her elder-by-three-years sister Élisabeth started playing two years earlier. She has been a member of Canada's National Training Centre in Montreal since 2009. Her parents, Blaise Abanda and Cecile Essono Ahibena, are from Cameroon. Her sister Élisabeth also played tennis professionally and studied at Barry University.
Tennis career
2011–12
In 2011, Abanda reached the third round of the junior US Open in singles. In May 2012, she was eliminated in the third round of the junior French Open in singles, and in the quarterfinals in doubles. She lost in the semifinals of the junior Wimbledon in June 2012 in both singles and doubles. She played and won her first professional match at the $25k event in Granby in July, defeating world No. 331, Jennifer Elie, in the first round before losing to compatriot Eugenie Bouchard in the second. She also reached the doubles semifinals. In August, she reached last round qualies at the Rogers Cup as a wildcard, with a win over world No. 104, Irina Falconi, in the second round.
Abanda then won in September the G1 tournament in Repentigny, becoming only the second Québécoise (after Eugenie Bouchard in 2011), and fourth Canadian to win the title there. She made it to the quarterfinals of the junior US Open in doubles at the beginning of September. Also in 2012, she won the GB1 Pan American Closed ITF Championships, with a win over fellow Canadian Carol Zhao in the final. In October 2012, Abanda reached the doubles semifinals at the $50k event in Saguenay. She reached a week later her second straight doubles semifinals, this time at the $50k Toronto Challenger.
2013
Abanda made a first return following her shoulder's injury at an ITF tournament in March but lost in the first round. She made a second return in August at the US Open and reached the second round of the junior event. The following week, she was awarded a wildcard (with fellow Canadian Carol Zhao) in the doubles main draw at the Challenge Bell. This was the first WTA Tour main draw of her career, but lost to Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Rodionova in the quarterfinals.
During the first two weeks of October, Abanda played two back-to-back ITFs in Mexico. In the first, a $15k held in Victoria, Abanda reached the quarterfinals in singles and the semifinals in doubles, with Victoria Rodríguez. The second, a $25k tournament held in Tampico, saw Abanda beat Ana Sofía Sánchez in straight sets in the first round but ultimately lost in the second round. In doubles, she reached the quarterfinals partnering with Indy de Vroome. As a result, she broke the top 400 in doubles for the first time, at world No. 397.
In mid-October, Abanda made it to the quarterfinals in singles at the $25k in Rock Hill. At the end of October, Abanda reached her first professional doubles final at the $50k Saguenay Challenger, but was defeated (with partner Victoria Duval) by Marta Domachowska and Andrea Hlaváčková. She also made it to the quarterfinals in singles. A week later at the $50k Toronto Challenger, Abanda (with Duval again) won her first professional title with a win over Melanie Oudin and Jessica Pegula. At the beginning of December and the last tournament of her season, Abanda reached the quarterfinals at the 25k event in Mérida.
2014
In mid-January, Abanda won her first professional singles title with a victory over compatriot Heidi El Tabakh at the $25k tournament in Port St. Lucie. In February, she qualified for the $100k event in Midland, but was defeated by Sofia Arvidsson in the second round. In March, Abanda made it to the last round of qualifying at the Premier Mandatory Sony Open Tennis, where she was awarded a wildcard, before losing in three sets to Kimiko Date-Krumm. She also reached in April the last round of qualifying at the WTA event in Bogotá. In late April, Abanda made it through to the quarterfinals of the $50k Charlottesville Classic as a qualifier, but was eliminated by Montserrat González in three sets. In May at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, she reached her second WTA quarterfinal in doubles, but was eliminated by third seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan. In the last week of May, Abanda made it to the semifinals of the $25k event in Maribor where she was eliminated by Yvonne Neuwirth.