Alicia Molik (born 27 January 1981) is an Australian former professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 and a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 6.
Molik won a bronze medal in singles for Australia at the 2004 Summer Olympics by upsetting the then-world No. 3 and reigning French Open champion Anastasia Myskina. She also won the 2004 Zurich Open, defeating Maria Sharapova in the final, and reached the quarterfinals of the 2005 Australian Open. Molik won Grand Slam doubles titles at the 2005 Australian Open with Svetlana Kuznetsova, and at the 2007 French Open with Mara Santangelo. She also reached the finals of three mixed doubles major tournaments: at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships, the 2004 US Open, and the 2007 Wimbledon Championships.
Shortly after the 2005 Australian Open, Molik contracted an inner-ear infection. The infection developed into vestibular neuronitis, which kept her out of competition until May 2006. Molik was never able to replicate her pre-ailment singles results, even though she returned to the top 60 a year later. She retired in August 2008, but she returned a year later in September 2009. Her last match was a second-round loss at the 2011 Australian Open to Nadia Petrova.
Career
She won her first Grand Slam doubles title at the 2005 Australian Open with partner Svetlana Kuznetsova. She reached the top ten of the WTA rankings for the first time in early 2005 following her first Grand Slam quarterfinal singles appearance, at the Australian Open, where she lost 7–9 in the final set to Lindsay Davenport.
Molik won the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens in the singles competition, beating then world No. 3, Anastasia Myskina, in straight sets.
She won the Zurich Open, a Tier I tournament, defeating Maria Sharapova in a three-set final.
2005: Rise to the top 10
Molik began 2005 by partnering Mark Philippoussis in the Hopman Cup. She played in the Sydney International, defeating unseeded players the entire way through the tournament before taking the title over compatriot Samantha Stosur in the final, 6–7, 6–4, 7–5. Molik played in the Australian Open as the 10th seed. She defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues in the first round, Aiko Nakamura in the second round and Tatiana Panova in the third round to set up a meeting with eighth seed Venus Williams in the fourth round. Molik defeated Williams in straight sets 7–5, 7–6 to become the first Australian woman to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals since 1988. Molik played in her first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal against top seed Lindsay Davenport. Davenport defeated Molik in a marathon three-set match, 6–4, 4–6, 9–7. Molik won her first Grand Slam doubles title with Svetlana Kuznetsova. After the Australian Open, Molik rose into the top 10 in singles for the first time in her career, at No. 10.
Molik played in the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp, making the semifinals before losing to Amélie Mauresmo 6–3, 7–6. However, she defeated Mauresmo in the Tier II Qatar Ladies Open semifinals 7–6, 6–1 to set up a meeting with second seed Maria Sharapova. Sharapova defeated Molik in the final in three sets. Molik rose to No. 8 after the tournament.
As the seventh seed at the Tier I Indian Wells Open, Molik made the fourth round before losing to a returning Justine Henin 4–6, 6–2, 2–6. This was the second last time in 2005 that Molik won past the first round of a tournament.
After crashing out of the tournament in Amelia Island to Virginie Razzano, Molik took an extended break due to an inner ear infection, which caused her to miss the entire clay-court season including the French Open. Molik returned for the grass court season in Birmingham, however, lost in the second round after a first round bye to Laura Granville 4–6, 2–6. Molik took another long break, missing Wimbledon, due to the ear infection.
She played only one lead in tournament for the US Open, losing in the first round to Gisela Dulko 2–6, 4–6. Seeded 14th at the US Open, she lost in the first round to Shenay Perry 4–6, 4–6. Molik won her last match of 2005 at the tournament in Bali as the third seed, making the second round before losing to Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 4–6, 2–6. Molik lost in the first round in her last four tournaments of the year, Beijing, Filderstadt, Moscow and Zurich. She finished the year ranked 29th, with a 17–14 record.