Françoise Abanda

Françoise Abanda
Françoise Abanda
Born	February 5, 1997 (age 29); Canada
Occupation	Tennis player
Known for	Professional tennis career, highest WTA singles ranking No. 111 (October 9, 2017)

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Françoise Abanda, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 1 December 2025

Françoise Abanda (born February 5, 1997) is a Canadian tennis professional. She attained her career-best WTA singles ranking of No. 111 on October 9, 2017, and achieved her highest doubles ranking of No. 197 on September 8, 2014. On the junior circuit, she reached a peak combined ranking of No. 4 on April 29, 2013.

Early life

Abanda started playing tennis at the age of seven, three years after her older sister Élisabeth took up the sport. Since 2009, she has trained at Canada's National Training Centre located in Montreal. Her parents, Blaise Abanda and Cecile Essono Ahibena, originate from Cameroon. Élisabeth also pursued a professional tennis career and attended Barry University.

2011–12

In 2011, Abanda advanced to the third round in the junior singles at the US Open. By May 2012, she reached the third round in junior singles and the quarterfinals in doubles at the French Open. At the Junior Wimbledon in June, she made it to the semifinals in both singles and doubles competitions. In July, she secured her first professional victory during a $25k tournament in Granby, defeating then world No. 331 Jennifer Elie before being eliminated by fellow Canadian Eugenie Bouchard. Additionally, she progressed to the doubles semifinals at that event. In August, granted a wildcard into the Rogers Cup qualifiers, Abanda upset world No. 104 Irina Falconi but was defeated in the final qualifying round.

September saw her claim victory at the G1 tournament in Repentigny, becoming only the second player from Québec after Bouchard—and fourth Canadian overall—to win that title. She also reached the junior doubles quarterfinals at the US Open and triumphed over fellow Canadian Carol Zhao to win the GB1 Pan American Closed ITF Championships. In October, Abanda advanced to doubles semifinals at two $50k events: the Saguenay and the $50k Toronto Challenger.

2013

After recovering from a shoulder injury, Abanda returned to competition at an ITF event in March but was defeated in her opening match. She made another comeback in August at the US Open, progressing to the second round of juniors. The following week, alongside fellow Canadian Carol Zhao, she received a wildcard entry into the doubles main draw at the Challenge Bell, marking her debut in a WTA Tour main draw; they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Rodionova.

In October, Abanda participated in two ITF tournaments held in Mexico. At a $15k event in Victoria, she reached singles quarterfinals and doubles semifinals partnering with Victoria Rodríguez. At a $25k tournament in Tampico, she won her opening singles match but lost in round two; meanwhile, teaming with Indy de Vroome in doubles, they made it to the quarterfinals. These performances propelled her into the top 400 doubles rankings, achieving world No. 397.

Mid-October featured Abanda reaching singles quarterfinals at a $25k tournament in Rock Hill. Toward month-end, she appeared in her inaugural professional doubles final at the $50k Saguenay Challenger alongside partner Victoria Duval, finishing as runners-up to Marta Domachowska and Andrea Hlaváčková. She also reached singles quarterfinals there. One week later, at the $50k Toronto Challenger, Abanda and Duval secured her first professional title by winning the doubles championship against Melanie Oudin and Jessica Pegula. Her season wrapped up with a quarterfinal run at a $25k event in Mérida during December.

2014

In January, Abanda claimed her inaugural professional singles trophy at the $25,000 competition in Port St. Lucie, overcoming fellow Canadian Heidi El Tabakh. The following month, she successfully qualified for the $100,000 tournament in Midland, but was ousted in the second round by Sofia Arvidsson. In March, Abanda advanced to the final qualifying stage of the Premier Mandatory Sony Open Tennis, earning a wildcard entry before falling in a three-set match to Kimiko Date-Krumm. Additionally, she reached the final qualifying round at the WTA event held in Bogotá during April. Later that month, as a qualifier at the $50,000 Charlottesville Classic, she progressed to the quarterfinals but was defeated by Montserrat González.

In May, Abanda reached her second WTA doubles quarterfinal at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, where she and her partner were bested by third seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan. Later that month, she made it to the semifinals of a $25,000 tournament in Maribor, losing to Yvonne Neuwirth.

At the June French Open, Abanda advanced to her second junior Grand Slam semifinal before being defeated by top seed Ivana Jorović. During July’s Wimbledon Championships, she exited in the third round after a loss to Markéta Vondroušová. That same month, Abanda reached her second professional singles final at the inaugural $25,000 event in Gatineau, where she was beaten in three sets by Stéphanie Foretz. She also reached the semifinals of the $25,000 Granby Challenger. At July’s conclusion during the Citi Open, she received a wildcard for the main draw but was eliminated in the first round by Vania King.

In August, Abanda earned a main draw wildcard for the Rogers Cup in Montreal but fell in three sets to world No. 12, Dominika Cibulková. She qualified for her first Grand Slam main draw at the late August US Open, conceding just six games throughout qualifying rounds before losing to world No. 27, Sabine Lisicki, in round one. In September at the Coupe Banque Nationale, she was granted a wildcard but was defeated by world No. 19 and longtime inspiration, Venus Williams.

2015–16

February 2015 marked Abanda’s debut representing Canada in Fed Cup competition, where she lost both matches during the World Group first round against reigning champions Czech Republic. One week later, she reached the semifinals of a $25,000 event held in Surprise, Arizona. In March, Abanda received a wildcard into the Miami Open main draw but was defeated in the opening round by world No. 51 Kaia Kanepi. During April’s Fed Cup World Group play-offs, she recorded her first victory over a top-100 opponent by upsetting world No. 33 Irina-Camelia Begu but subsequently lost her second match to world No. 69 Alexandra Dulgheru.

In May 2015, Abanda secured her second professional doubles title alongside Maria Sanchez at the $50,000 Charlottesville Classic. At August’s Rogers Cup, she entered the singles main draw via wildcard but was eliminated in round one by world No. 16 Andrea Petkovic; meanwhile, she progressed to the doubles second round with partner Heidi El Tabakh.

By March 2016, Abanda captured her second singles title at a $25,000 tournament in Irapuato. In July, after beginning collaboration with Canadian coach Alain Humblet, she received a wildcard for the Washington Open but exited after her first match. During August’s Premier-5 Rogers Cup, she advanced to round two by defeating world No. 66 Zheng Saisai before losing to world No. 20 Elina Svitolina. She also reached the second round of September’s WTA Quebec City tournament. In October 2016, Abanda earned her third singles title at a $25,000 event in Redding, California by defeating Sachia Vickery.

2017

During April's Fed Cup World Group II play-offs versus Kazakhstan, Abanda secured two singles victories over world No. 51 Yaroslava Shvedova and No. 31 Yulia Putintseva, contributing significantly to Canada's 3–2 triumph and advancement to the 2018 World Group II. In May, she made her debut in the main draw of the French Open by overcoming home competitor Tessah Andrianjafitrimo before being defeated by world No. 12 Caroline Wozniacki. At the Wimbledon Championships, Abanda again qualified and won her opening round against world No. 94 Kurumi Nara, subsequently falling in a three-set battle to the reigning French Open champion and world No. 13 Jeļena Ostapenko in the second round. In August, at the Premier 5 event Western & Southern Open, she earned qualification by defeating world No. 79 Misaki Doi and No. 60 Natalia Vikhlyantseva, claimed a first-round victory over world No. 84 Magda Linette, but was then ousted by world No. 37 Julia Görges. September saw Abanda reach her inaugural WTA quarterfinal at the Coupe Banque Nationale, where she beat Asia Muhammad and world No. 74 Varvara Lepchenko before losing to world No. 63 Tímea Babos.

Singles

Updated through the 2021 Billie Jean King Cup.

ITF Circuit finals

Tournament	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	SR	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	Q1	A	Q2	Q2	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0	–
French Open	A	A	A	A	A	2R	Q1	A	A	A	0 / 1	1–1	50%	-	Wimbledon	A	A	A	A	A	2R	Q1	A	NH	A	0 / 1	1–1	50%	-	US Open	A	A	1R	A	Q3	Q3	Q3	Q1	A	A	0 / 1	0–1	0%
Win–loss	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	2–2	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0 / 3	2–3	Template:Tennis win percentage
WTA 1000 tournaments
Dubai Tennis Championships / Qatar Ladies Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0	Template:Tennis win percentage
Indian Wells Masters	A	A	A	A	A	2017 BNP Paribas Open – Women's singles qualifying Q1	2018 BNP Paribas Open – Women's singles qualifying Q1	A

Legend
W60/75 level events
W25/35 level events

Singles: 5 (3 titles, 2 runner-up finishes)

Outcome	W–L	Template:NsDateTemplate:Ns	Event	Category	Playing Surface	Rival	Match Score
Victory	1–0	January 2014	ITF Port St. Lucie, USA	W25	Clay court	Heidi El Tabakh	6–3, 6–4
Defeat	1–1	July 2014	Challenger de Gatineau, Canada	W25	Hard court	Template:Country data FRA Template:Namespace detect showall Stéphanie Foretz	3–6, 6–3, 3–6
Victory	2–1	March 2016	Guanajuato Open, Mexico	W25	Hard court	Template:Country data NED Template:Namespace detect showall Lesley Kerkhove	6–2, 6–4
Victory	3–1	October 2016	ITF Redding, USA	W25	Hard court	Sachia Vickery	3–6, 6–4, 6–4
Defeat	3–2	January 2019	ITF Daytona Beach, USA	W25	Clay court	Template:Country data HUN Template:Namespace detect showall Anna Bondar	7–6⁽³⁾, 6–7⁽⁵⁾, 5–7

Doubles: 4 (2 championships, 2 runner-up finishes)

Outcome	W–L	Template:NsDateTemplate:Ns	Event	Category	Surface type	Teammate	Opponents	Result Score
Runner-up finish	0–1	October 2013	Challenger de Saguenay, Canada	W75	Indoor hardcourt	Victoria Duval	Template:Country data POL Template:Namespace detect showall Marta Domachowska Template:Country data CZE Template:Namespace detect showall Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková	5–7, 3–6

W–L !Template:NsDateTemplate:Ns !Event !Category !Surface !Partner !Opponents !class="unsortable"\|Score

Performance versus top-100 opponents

Abanda holds a 12–23 (35%) win-loss record against competitors ranked within the top 100 worldwide at the time of their matches.
Players who have attained the world No. 1 ranking are highlighted in bold.

* Statistics current as of August 25, 2021

External links

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