Samantha Crawford (born February 18, 1995) is an American former professional tennis player.
In her career, Crawford won one singles title and five doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On July 11, 2016, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 98, with her WTA doubles rankings peak of No. 216 being achieved on July 13, 2015.
As a junior, Crawford won the girls' singles title at the 2012 US Open, defeating Anett Kontaveit in the final.
Career Aged 17, Crawford advanced through qualifying to make her major main-draw debut at the 2012 US Open, losing to fellow teenager Laura Robson in the first round.
Having seen her career stalled by a knee injury that required surgery in 2013, she earned a place at the 2015 US Open by winning the USTA's Wild Card Challenge. Again she lost in the first round, this time to Irina Falconi.
In November 2015, Crawford won what would prove to be her only ITF singles title at the Scottsdale Challenge, defeating Viktorija Golubic in the final and in the process clinching the USTA Australian Open Wild Card Challenge.
As a qualifier at the 2016 Brisbane International, Crawford achieved her career-best WTA Tour result defeating wildcard entrant Priscilla Hon, seventh seed Belinda Bencic and Andrea Petkovic to reach the semifinals, at which point she lost to former world No. 1 and eventual champion Victoria Azarenka.
She made her first appearance at a major on foreign soil at the 2016 Australian Open, losing to Danka Kovinić in the first round.
Thanks to her improved world ranking, Crawford gained direct entry into the main-draws at the 2016 French Open, where she lost in the first round to Tímea Babos, and that year's Wimbledon, where she defeated qualifier Paula Kania to set up a second round meeting with 28th seed Lucie Šafářová which she lost in straight sets. She also made it directly into the 2016 US Open, but lost in the first round to 24th seed Belinda Bencic in three sets.
Crawford made her final major main-draw appearance at the 2017 Australian Open, overcoming fellow American Lauren Davis in her opening match, before being eliminated in the second round by seventh seed Garbiñe Muguruza.
In August 2023, Crawford was appointed as an assistant tennis coach at Oklahoma State University.
ITF finals Singles: 6 (1 title, 5 runner-ups) Legend$50,000 tournaments$25,000 tournaments$15,000 tournamentsFinals by surfaceHard (1–2)Clay (0–3) ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Jul 2012ITF Yakima, United States50,000 Hard Shelby Rogers 4–6, 7–6(3), 3–6Loss 0–2 Jan 2015ITF Plantation, United States25,000 Clay Sachia Vickery 3–6, 1–6Loss 0–3 May 2015ITF Raleigh, United States25,000 Clay Julia Boserup 3–6, 2–6Loss 0–4 Aug 2015Lexington Challenger, United States50,000 Hard Nao Hibino 2–6, 1–6Win 1–4 Nov 2015Scottsdale Challenge, United States50,000 Hard Viktorija Golubic 6–3, 4–6, 6–2Loss 1–5 Mar 2022ITF Naples, United States15,000 Clay Madison Sieg 2–6, 0–1 ret.
Doubles: 8 (5 titles, 3 runner-ups) Legend$50,000 tournaments$25,000 tournamentsFinals by surfaceHard (5–3) ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1–0 Jul 2012ITF Yakima, US50,000 Hard Madison Keys Xu Yifan Zhou Yimiao 6–3, 2–6, [12–10]Win 2–0 Feb 2013ITF Surprise, US25,000 Hard Sachia Vickery Emily Harman Xu Yifan 6–3, 3–6, [10–7]Win 3–0 Feb 2014Rancho Santa Fe Open, US25,000 Hard Xu Yifan Danielle Lao Keri Wong 3–6, 6–2, [12–10]Loss 3–1 Jul 2014Carson Challenger, US50,000 Hard Sachia Vickery Michaëlla Krajicek Olivia Rogowska 6–7(4), 1–6Win 4–1 Feb 2015Rancho Santa Fe Open, US25,000 Hard Asia Muhammad İpek Soylu Nina Stojanović 6–0, 6–3Win 5–1 Jun 2015ITF Baton Rouge, US25,000 Hard Emily Harman Storm Sanders Chanel Simmonds 7–6(4), 6–1Loss 5–2 Nov 2016Scottsdale Challenge, US50,000 Hard Melanie Oudin Ingrid Neel Taylor Townsend 4–6, 3–6Loss 5–3 Oct 2022ITF Florence, US25,000 Hard Clervie Ngounoue Allura Zamarripa Maribella Zamarripa 3–6, 4–6
Junior finals Grand Slam tournaments Girls' singles: 1 (title) ResultYearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 2012 US Open Hard Anett Kontaveit 7–5, 6–3
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