# Raquel Atawo

Raquel Atawo (née Kops-Jones; born December 8, 1982) is an American former professional tennis player, who is currently the head woman's tennis coach for the Washington State Cougars.
She is primarily a doubles specialist, winning 18 WTA doubles titles, including two Premier-5 titles at the 2012 Toray Pan Pacific Open and the 2014 Cincinnati Masters, and reaching the semifinals of the 2014 Australian Open, 2015 Wimbledon Championships and 2016 Wimbledon Championships, all alongside her regular partner, fellow American Abigail Spears.
Before serving as the head coach at Washington State, Atawo was an assistant women's tennis coach for Auburn University and a volunteer coach for University of California women's tennis.

## Biography

Raquel's mother is Nancy Kops, and her father is Lawrence Jones. She has two sisters, Renee and Khristy. She married Toby Atawo on July 18, 2015.

## Career

Her best results in doubles at Grand Slam events have been reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open in 2014 and Wimbledon in 2015 and 2016, both while partnered with Abigail Spears. Kops-Jones has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 10, achieved on March 2, 2015. She won 18 WTA doubles titles.
In 2008, she played for the Boston Lobsters, and in 2019, played for the Philadelphia Freedoms—both teams in the World TeamTennis Pro League.

### 2012

Kops-Jones and compatriot Abigail Spears were one of the most successful doubles teams of the 2012 season, winning four titles, at Carlsbad, Seoul, Tokyo, and Osaka. The pair also reached two other finals and the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.

## Significant finals
### Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 tournaments
#### Doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Runner-up | 2012 | Qatar Open | Hard | Abigail Spears | Liezel Huber Lisa Raymond | 3–6, 1–6 |
| Winner | 2012 | Tokyo Open | Hard | Abigail Spears | Anna-Lena Grönefeld Květa Peschke | 6–1, 6–4 |
| Winner | 2014 | Cincinnati Open | Hard | Abigail Spears | Tímea Babos Kristina Mladenovic | 6–1, 2–0 ret. |

## WTA Tour finals
### Doubles: 26 (18 titles, 8 runner-ups)

* Winner — Legend
* Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
* Tier I / Premier M & Premier 5 (2–1)
* Tier II / Premier (9–4)
* Tier III, IV & V / International (7–3)
| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Win | 1. | Nov 2007 | Bell Challenge, Quebec City | Hard | Christina Fusano | Stéphanie Dubois Renata Voráčová | 6–3, 7–6$^{(8–6)}$ |
| Win | 2. | May 2009 | Estoril Open, Portugal | Clay | Abigail Spears | Sharon Fichman Katalin Marosi | 2–6, 6–3, [10–5] |
| Win | 3. | May 2009 | Warsaw Open, Poland | Clay | Bethanie Mattek-Sands | Yan Zi Zheng Jie | 6–1, 6–1 |
| Loss | 1. | Jun 2009 | Birmingham Classic, UK | Grass | Abigail Spears | Cara Black Liezel Huber | 1–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 2. | Aug 2011 | San Diego Open, United States | Hard | Abigail Spears | Květa Peschke Katarina Srebotnik | 0–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 4. | Sep 2011 | Bell Challenge, Canada (2) | Hard | Abigail Spears | Jamie Hampton Anna Tatishvili | 6–0, 3–6, [10–6] |
| Loss | 3. | Jan 2012 | Brisbane International, Australia | Hard | Abigail Spears | Nuria Llagostera Vives Arantxa Parra Santonja | 6–7$^{(2–7)}$, 6–7$^{(2–7)}$ |
| Loss | 4. | Feb 2012 | Qatar Ladies Open, Doha | Hard | Abigail Spears | Liezel Huber Lisa Raymond | 3–6, 1–6 |
| Win | 5. | Jul 2012 | San Diego Open, US | Hard | Abigail Spears | Vania King Nadia Petrova | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Win | 6. | Sep 2012 | Korea Open, Seoul | Hard | Abigail Spears | Akgul Amanmuradova Vania King | 2–6, 6–2, [10–8] |
| Win | 7. | Sep 2012 | Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo | Hard | Abigail Spears | Anna-Lena Grönefeld Květa Peschke | 6–1, 6–4 |
| Win | 8. | Oct 2012 | Osaka Open, Japan | Hard | Abigail Spears | Kimiko Date-Krumm Heather Watson | 6–1, 6–4 |
| Win | 9. | Jul 2013 | Stanford Classic, US | Hard | Abigail Spears | Julia Görges Darija Jurak | 6–2, 7–6$^{(7–4)}$ |
| Win | 10. | Aug 2013 | San Diego Open, US (2) | Hard | Abigail Spears | Chan Hao-ching Janette Husárová | 6–4, 6–1 |
| Loss | 5. | Sep 2013 | Korea Open, South Korea | Hard | Abigail Spears | Chan Chin-wei Xu Yifan | 5–7, 3–6 |
| Loss | 6. | Feb 2014 | Dubai Tennis Championships, U.A.E. | Hard | Abigail Spears | Alla Kudryavtseva Anastasia Rodionova | 2–6, 7–5, [8–10] |
| Win | 11. | Jun 2014 | Birmingham Classic, UK | Grass | Abigail Spears | Ashleigh Barty Casey Dellacqua | 7–6$^{(7–1)}$, 6–1 |
| Win | 12. | Aug 2014 | Cincinnati Open, US | Hard | Abigail Spears | Tímea Babos Kristina Mladenovic | 6–1, 2–0 ret. |
| Loss | 7. | Jan 2015 | Sydney International, Australia | Hard | Abigail Spears | Bethanie Mattek-Sands Sania Mirza | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 13. | Feb 2015 | Qatar Ladies Open, Doha | Hard | Abigail Spears | Hsieh Su-wei Sania Mirza | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Win | 14. | Jun 2015 | Nottingham Open, UK | Grass | Abigail Spears | Jocelyn Rae Anna Smith | 3–6, 6–3, [11–9] |
| Win | 15. | Oct 2015 | Ladies Linz, Austria | Hard (i) | Abigail Spears | Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká | 6–3, 7–5 |
| Win | 16. | Jul 2016 | Stanford Classic, US (2) | Hard | Abigail Spears | Darija Jurak Anastasia Rodionova | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 17. | Apr 2017 | Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart | Clay (i) | Jeļena Ostapenko | Abigail Spears Katarina Srebotnik | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Win | 18. | Apr 2018 | Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart (2) | Clay (i) | Anna-Lena Grönefeld | Nicole Melichar Květa Peschke | 6–4, 6–7$^{(5–7)}$, [10–5] |
| Loss | 8. | Oct 2018 | Linz Open, Austria (2) | Hard (i) | Anna-Lena Grönefeld | Kirsten Flipkens Johanna Larsson | 6–4, 4–6, [5–10] |

## Doubles performance timeline

Key :
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | SR | W–L |
| Grand Slam tournaments ||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 2R | SF | QF | 2R | QF | 3R | QF | 0 / 11 | 21–11 |
| French Open | A | A | A | A | A | 3R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 0 / 12 | 7–12 |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | 1R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 2R | QF | 3R | 3R | SF | SF | 1R | 2R | 2R | 0 / 13 | 20–13 |
| US Open | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 0 / 14 | 11–14 |
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 7–3 | 1–4 | 1–4 | 3–4 | 6–4 | 4–4 | 7–4 | 9–4 | 6–4 | 4–4 | 6–4 | 5–4 | 0 / 50 | 59–50 |
| Premier Mandatory tournaments ||||||||||||||||||||
| Indian Wells | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | QF | 1R | 2R | 2R | 0 / 12 | 9–12 |
| Miami | A | A | A | A | A | A | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | SF | 1R | A | 2R | QF | 1R | 0 / 10 | 8–10 |
| Madrid | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | QF | QF | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 0 / 11 | 4–11 |
| Beijing | NH | Tier II | Tier II | Tier II | Tier II | Tier II | 2R | A | QF | QF | QF | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | A | 0 / 9 | 9–9 |
| Premier 5 tournaments ||||||||||||||||||||
| Dubai | Tier II | Tier II | Tier II | Tier II | Tier II | Tier II | 2R | 1R | 1R | Premier | Premier | Premier | 1R | P | 1R | P | 1R | 0 / 6 | 0–6 |
| Doha | T III | Tier II | Tier II | Tier II | Tier II | A | Not Held | Not Held | P | F | SF | 2R | P | 2R | P | 1R | P | 0 / 5 | 8–5 |
| Rome | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | QF | A | SF | 1R | 0 / 9 | 5–9 |
| Montreal/Toronto | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | QF | QF | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | A | 0 / 8 | 9–8 |
| Cincinnati | NH | Tier III | Tier III | Tier III | Tier III | Tier III | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | W | 2R | QF | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1 / 10 | 10–9 |
| Tokyo | A | A | A | A | A | A | QF | A | QF | W | 1R | Premier | Premier | Premier | Premier | Premier | Premier | 1 / 4 | 6–3 |
| Wuhan | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | SF | QF | QF | 2R | 1R | A | 0 / 5 | 7–5 |
| Career statistics ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tournaments played | 2 | 1 | ITF only | ITF only | 6 | 9 | 23 | 25 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 22 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 19 | | |
| Titles | 0 | 0 | ITF only | ITF only | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 18 |
| Finals reached | 0 | 0 | ITF only | ITF only | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 26 |
| Overall win–loss | 0–2 | 0–1 | ITF only | ITF only | 5–5 | 10–9 | 21–21 | 12–25 | 25–25 | 42–21 | 27–22 | 38–20 | 33–23 | 30–23 | 19–21 | 23–22 | 13–18 | 298–258 | 298–258 |
| Year-end ranking | 620 | 677 | 312 | 152 | 93 | 55 | 36 | 63 | 37 | 13 | 23 | 12 | 18 | 21 | 34 | 26 | 57 | | |