2012 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem

2012 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem
Date	23 – 29 April
Edition	12th
Category	WTA International
Draw	32S / 16D
Prize money	US$220,000
Surface	Clay / outdoor
Location	Fés, Morocco
Champions
Singles
	Kiki Bertens
Doubles
	Petra Cetkovská / Alexandra Panova

Last updated March 04, 2019

The 2012 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem was a professional women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the twelfth edition of the tournament which was part of the WTA International tournaments of the 2012 WTA Tour. It took place in Fés, Morocco between 23 and 29 April 2012. Qualifier Kiki Bertens won the singles title.

Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object of the game is to maneuver the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. The player who is unable to return the ball will not gain a point, while the opposite player will.

A clay court is one of many different types of tennis court. Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone, brick, or other unbound mineral aggregates. The French Open uses clay courts, making it unique among the Grand Slam tournaments. Clay courts are more common in Continental Europe and Latin America than in North America, Asia or Britain. Two main types exist: red clay, the more common variety, and green clay, also known as "rubico", which is a harder surface. Although less expensive to construct than other types of tennis courts, the maintenance costs of clay are high as the surface must be rolled to preserve flatness.

The International Tournaments is a category for professional tennis tournaments of the Women's Tennis Association from the 2009 WTA Tour onwards, which replaced the previous Tier III and Tier IV categories. The winner of a WTA International adds 280 points to her WTA ranking.

Singles main draw entrants

Seeds

Country	Player	Rank¹	Seed
ESP	Anabel Medina Garrigues	26	1
RUS	Svetlana Kuznetsova	27	2
CZE	Petra Cetkovská	30	3
BEL	Yanina Wickmayer	31	4
ROU	Simona Halep	42	5
RSA	Chanelle Scheepers	44	6
CZE	Klára Zakopalová	47	7
ISR	Shahar Pe'er	55	8

¹ Rankings are as of April 16, 2012

Other entrants

The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:

Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues is a Spanish tennis coach and former player. As a player she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 16 in 2009, and won 11 singles and 28 doubles titles, including the 2008 and 2009 French Open with Virginia Ruano Pascual. Like many of her Spanish compatriots, she was a clay-court specialist who grinds to win most of her rallies. However, unlike most of her fellow Spaniards, she preferred to play on hard courts. She won the WTA tournament in Strasbourg, beating Katarina Srebotnik in the final in May 2008, thus defending the title she won the previous year against Amélie Mauresmo. Her other singles titles came in Palermo in 2006, 2005, 2004 and 2001, Canberra in 2006, Strasbourg in 2005 and Fès in 2009.

Nadia Lalami Laaroussi is a Moroccan tennis player.

The following players received entry from the qualifying draw:

Kiki Bertens is a Dutch tennis player who turned professional in 2009. Her highest WTA singles ranking is No. 7, which she reached on 25 February 2019. Her career high in doubles is world No. 16, achieved in April 2018. To date, she has won eight singles and ten doubles titles on the WTA Tour including 2018 Western & Southern Open. Bertens is widely regarded as a clay-court specialist, but also is successful on hard courts. She is coached by Raemon Sluiter.

Melinda Czink is a former professional tennis player from Hungary. On 21 September 2009, Czink reached her career-high singles ranking of world no. 37.

Arina Ivanovna Rodionova is a Russian-born Australian tennis player.

The following players received entry as lucky loser:

Mathilde Johansson

Withdrawals

Retirements

Fatima Zahrae El Allami (gastro intestinal illness)
Svetlana Kuznetsova (left thigh injury)
Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (right hip injury)
Arina Rodionova (left wrist injury)

Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova is a Russian professional tennis player. She has appeared in four Grand Slam singles finals, winning two, and has also appeared in seven doubles finals, winning twice. As a doubles player, Kuznetsova has reached the finals of each Grand Slam event at least once, winning the Australian Open twice.

Patricia Mayr-Achleitner is a retired Austrian tennis player.