Irina Bara

Bara at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships
Full name	Irina Maria Bara
Country (sports)	Romania
Born	(1995-03-18) 18 March 1995 (age 29) Ștei, Romania
Height	1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
Plays	Right (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$1,454,963
Singles
Career record	392–278 (58.5%)
Career titles	11 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 104 (18 April 2022)
Current ranking	No. 175 (4 March 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	1R (2022)
French Open	3R (2020)
Wimbledon	2R (2022)
US Open	Q2 (2017, 2023)
Doubles
Career record	317–175 (64.4%)
Career titles	1 WTA, 5 WTA Challengers
Highest ranking	No. 56 (13 May 2019)
Current ranking	No. 155 (4 March 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	3R (2019)
French Open	QF (2018)
Wimbledon	1R (2018, 2019, 2022)
US Open	1R (2018, 2022)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	0–2
Last updated on: 4 March 2024.

Irina Maria Bara (born 18 March 1995) is a professional tennis player from Romania.^[1]

She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 104, achieved on 18 April 2022. On 13 May 2019, she peaked at No. 56 in the WTA doubles rankings. She won her maiden WTA Tour doubles title at the 2021 Transylvania Open, partnering Ekaterine Gorgodze. Bara has also won five doubles titles on the WTA Challenger Tour, where she is undefeated in finals, with ten singles and 30 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit, most of them on clay.

In singles, she reached a $100k and an $80k finals, three finals at $60k events, but lost all of them, having $25k as her highest category that she won. In doubles, she won a couple of $60k and $80k tournaments, but also won one $100k event, the 2016 Soho Square Tournament in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt.

Bara is better known for her performances in doubles, reaching the top 100. Her most significant result so far is a quarterfinal at the 2018 French Open, partnering with Mihaela Buzărnescu.^[2] In 2019, she also reached quarterfinals of the Madrid Open, again with Buzărnescu.^[3] In singles, her best result so far is a third round at the 2020 French Open on her Grand Slam singles debut, also her first major singles match win. The highest round she reached in singles is the quarterfinals, at the 2019 Baltic Open,^[4] while in doubles, she reached a couple of semifinals, but never a final. She made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the 2015 Bucharest Open in the doubles event, partnering Buzărnescu, while her first match in a singles event was two years later, at the same tournament, when she, as a wildcard player, lost in the first round to Aliaksandra Sasnovich.^[1]

Career review

2017–19: WTA Tour debut, first quarterfinal & top 200

Bara made her WTA Tour debut in singles at the 2017 Bucharest Open, when she lost as a wildcard player in the first round to Aliaksandra Sasnovich.^[5]

Her next WTA tournament was also there, in 2018; she realized her first WTA Tour singles match-win, defeating Viktoriya Tomova in the first round, and then lost to Polona Hercog.^[6][7] At the 2018 Moscow River Cup, she defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova before she was eliminated by Anastasija Sevastova in the second round.^[8]

In 2019, at the Baltic Open in Jūrmala, she reached her first and so far only quarterfinal, where she beat two Russian players, Margarita Gasparyan and Valentina Ivakhnenko, in the first two rounds, before losing to Sevastova.^[9] Her other WTA Tour performances that year were unsuccessful, losing in the first round in Acapulco to Beatriz Haddad Maia, in Bogotá to Sara Errani, in İstanbul to fellow Romanian Sorana Cîrstea, in Rabat to Hercog, and finally in Bucharest to Jaimee Fourlis.

On 17 July 2017, Bara entered top 200 for the first time, getting to No. 199. On 2 July 2018, she entered the top 150, reaching No. 150. On 13 August 2018, she rose to No. 139, her highest singles ranking until 2020.^[10] Until 2020, Bara was unsuccessful in her attempt to reach a main-draw at any Grand Slam tournament. She failed in qualifying at all four events, in both 2018 and 2019, as well as at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2017.

2020: Grand Slam debut & third round at the French Open

In March, Bara entered the main draw of the Lyon Open, passing through qualifying. In the main draw, she beat Tímea Babos, and then lost to Daria Kasatkina in the second round.^[11][12] In late September, Bara played the qualifying for the French Open, where she qualified for the first time for the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament.^[4] The other significant thing there, was that she also recorded her first win, defeating 26th seed Donna Vekić in straight sets. She won in the second round, after the retirement of Alison Van Uytvanck. In the third round against No. 3 seed Sofia Kenin, she could win only two games.^[13] Two weeks later, Bara reached a new career-high singles ranking, as world No. 115.^[10]

2021: First WTA Tour doubles & three more Challenger titles

In May, Bara played her first $100k final in Bonita Springs which she lost to Katie Volynets. She played in the main draw at the French Open, but lost to Astra Sharma. As a result, on 28 June, she reached a new career-high singles ranking of world No. 112. In September, Irina won her first out of three WTA Challenger titles in the season, partnering with Ekaterine Gorgodze. In October, Bara won her first WTA Tour title, playing again with Gorgodze at the Transylvania Open in her home country.

2022: Australian Open and Wimbledon debuts, career-high singles ranking

On 18 April 2022, she reached a new career-high ranking of No. 104.

Performance timelines

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Billie Jean King Cup, United Cup, Hopman Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.^[14]

Singles

Current after the 2023 China Open.

Doubles

Current through the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.

WTA Tour career finals

Doubles: 1 (title)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Oct 2021	Transylvania Open, Romania	WTA 250	Hard (i)	Ekaterine Gorgodze	Aleksandra Krunić Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove	4–6, 6–1, [11–9]

WTA 125 finals

Doubles: 6 (5 titles, 1 runner-up)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Sep 2021	Karlsruhe Open, Germany	Clay	Ekaterine Gorgodze	Katarzyna Piter Mayar Sherif	6–3, 2–6, [10–7]
Win	2–0	Nov 2021	Argentine Open	Clay	Ekaterine Gorgodze	María Lourdes Carlé Despina Papamichail	5–7, 7–5, [10–4]
Win	3–0	Nov 2021	Montevideo Open, Uruguay	Clay	Ekaterine Gorgodze	Carolina Alves Marina Bassols Ribera	6–4, 6–3
Win	4–0	Apr 2022	Marbella Open, Spain	Clay	Ekaterine Gorgodze	Vivian Heisen Katarzyna Kawa	6–4, 3–6, [10–6]
Win	5–0	Nov 2022	Argentine Open (2)	Clay	Sara Errani	Jang Su-jeong You Xiaodi	6–1, 7–5
Loss	5–1	Jul 2023	Iași Open, Romania	Clay	Monica Niculescu	Veronika Erjavec Dalila Jakupović	4–6, 4–6

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 25 (11 titles, 14 runner–ups)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Jun 2013	ITF Bucharest, Romania	W10	Clay	Laura Ioana Andrei	6–4, 6–4
Win	2–0	Dec 2013	ITF Antalya, Turkey	W10	Clay	Hikari Yamamoto	6–4, 6–1
Loss	2–1	Jul 2014	ITF Galați, Romania	W10	Clay	Patricia Maria Țig	6–7(3), 6–3, 2–6
Win	3–1	Nov 2014	ITF Antalya, Turkey	W10	Clay	Melis Sezer	6–3, 6–2
Loss	3–2	Nov 2014	ITF Antalya, Turkey	W10	Clay	Kristína Schmiedlová	3–6, 2–6
Win	4–2	Apr 2015	ITF Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy	W10	Clay	Stefania Rubini	6–1, 7–5
Win	5–2	May 2015	ITF Antalya, Turkey	W10	Clay	María Fernanda Álvarez Terán	6–7(3), 6–1, 6–0
Loss	5–3	Jun 2015	ITF Galați, Romania	W10	Clay	Diana Buzean	3–6, 6–4, 3–6
Loss	5–4	Sep 2015	ITF Varna, Bulgaria	W10	Clay	Isabella Shinikova	6–7(2), 4–6
Loss	5–5	Mar 2016	ITF Tarragona, Spain	W10	Clay	Joséphine Boualem	6–7(4), 7–6(1), 2–6
Loss	5–6	Mar 2016	ITF Hammamet, Tunisia	W10	Clay	Isabella Shinikova	1–6, 6–4, 6–7(2)
Win	6–6	Apr 2016	ITF Hammamet, Tunisia	W10	Clay	Tamara Zidanšek	6–3, 6–3
Win	7–6	Sep 2016	ITF Hódmezővásárhely, Hungary	W25	Clay	Dejana Radanović	7–5, 6–4
Loss	7–7	Apr 2017	ITF Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy	W25	Clay	Giulia Gatto-Monticone	6–3, 5–7, 4–6
Win	8–7	May 2017	ITF Båstad, Sweden	W25	Clay	Kathinka von Deichmann	7–6(6), 4–6, 6–2
Win	9–7	Nov 2017	Open de Valencia, Spain	W25	Clay	Olga Danilović	5–7, 6–4, 6–0
Loss	9–8	Apr 2018	ITF Indian Harbor Beach, United States	W60	Clay	Caroline Dolehide	4–6, 5–7
Loss	9–9	Jun 2018	Hódmezővásárhely Ladies Open, Hungary	W60	Clay	Mariana Duque Mariño	6–4, 5–7, 2–6
Loss	9–10	Oct 2019	Kiskút Open, Hungary	W60	Clay (i)	Nicoleta Dascălu	5–7, 2–6
Loss	9–11	Sep 2020	Open de Cagnes-sur-Mer, France	W80	Clay	Sara Sorribes Tormo	3–6, 4–6
Loss	9–12	May 2021	ITF Bonita Springs, United States	W100	Clay	Katie Volynets	7–6(4), 6–7(2), 1–6
Loss	9–13	Apr 2023	Koper Open, Slovenia	W60	Clay	Aliona Bolsova	6–3, 2–6, 1–4 ret.
Win	10–13	Apr 2023	ITF Istanbul, Turkey	W60	Clay	Berfu Cengiz	6–7(2), 6–4, 6–1
Loss	10–14	May 2023	Bodrum Tennis Cup, Turkey	W60	Clay	María Carlé	4–6, 4–6
Win	11–14	Oct 2023	ITF Heraklion, Greece	W25	Clay	Andreea Mitu	6–2, 6–1

Doubles: 53 (33 titles, 19 runner–ups)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Dec 2012	ITF Antalya, Turkey	W10	Clay	Ioana Loredana Roșca	Justine De Sutter Katerina Stewart	5–7, 4–6
Win	1–1	Apr 2013	ITF Antalya, Turkey	W10	Hard	Diana Buzean	Beatriz Haddad Maia Bárbara Luz	7–5, 6–1
Loss	1–2	Apr 2013	ITF Antalya, Turkey	W10	Hard	Diana Buzean	Andrea Benítez Carla Forte	2–6, 4–6
Win	2–2	Jul 2013	ITF Iași, Romania	W10	Clay	Diana Buzean	Anita Husarić Kateryna Sliusar	6–2, 6–1
Win	3–2	Aug 2013	ITF Arad, Romania	W10	Clay	Diana Buzean	Cristina Adamescu Ana Bianca Mihăilă	6–4, 6–3
Win	4–2	Aug 2013	ITF Bucharest, Romania	W10	Clay	Ioana Loredana Roșca	Raluca Elena Platon Patricia Maria Țig	6–4, 6–4
Win	5–2	Oct 2013	ITF Ruse, Bulgaria	W10	Clay	Eva Wacanno	Lina Gjorcheska Camelia Hristea	6–1, 6–2
Win	6–2	Dec 2013	ITF Antalya, Turkey	W10	Clay	Conny Perrin	Gabriela Talabă Patricia Maria Țig	6–3, 6–1
Loss	6–3	Jan 2014	ITF Antalya, Turkey	W10	Clay	Diana Buzean	Sviatlana Pirazhenka Alyona Sotnikova	5–7, 6–1, [7–10]
Loss	6–4	May 2014	ITF Bol, Croatia	W10	Clay	Raluca Elena Platon	Pernilla Mendesova Patricia Maria Țig	w/o
Loss	6–5	Jul 2014	Palić Open, Serbia	W10	Clay	Camelia Hristea	Lina Gjorcheska Elizaveta Ianchuk	4–6, 1–6
Win	7–5	Aug 2014	ITF Arad, Romania	W10	Clay	Diana Buzean	Lina Gjorcheska Camelia Hristea	4–6, 7–5, [10–6]
Win	8–5	Aug 2014	ITF Mamaia, Romania	W25	Clay	Andreea Mitu	Georgia Crăciun Patricia Maria Țig	6–4, 6–1
Win	9–5	Sep 2014	ITF Dobrich, Bulgaria	W25	Clay	Andreea Mitu	Réka Luca Jani Isabella Shinikova	7–5, 7–6
Win	10–5	Nov 2014	ITF Antalya, Turkey	W10	Clay	Melis Sezer	Lisa Ponomar Shakhlo Saidova	w/o
Loss	10–6	Nov 2014	ITF Antalya, Turkey	W10	Clay	Melis Sezer	Valeria Prosperi Arina Folts	6–3, 6–7(4), [5–10]
Win	11–6	Dec 2014	ITF Antalya, Turkey	W10	Clay	Diana Buzean	Magdalena Stoilkovska Elke Tiel	6–2, 6–4
Loss	11–7	Feb 2015	ITF Palmanova, Spain	W10	Clay	Ágnes Bukta	Amanda Carreras Alice Savoretti	4–6, 1–6
Win	12–7	Feb 2015	ITF Palmanova, Spain	W10	Clay	Ágnes Bukta	Ana Bianca Mihăilă Gabriela Pantůčková	6–1, 6–1
Win	13–7	Feb 2015	ITF Palmanova, Spain	W10	Clay	Ágnes Bukta	Kim Grajdek Akvilė Paražinskaitė	6–2, 6–4
Loss	13–8	Mar 2015	ITF Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy	W10	Clay	Lilla Barzó	Claudia Giovine Kimberley Zimmermann	6–7(4), 3–6
Win	14–8	Apr 2015	ITF Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy	W10	Clay	Oana Georgeta Simion	Margot Yerolymos Kimberley Zimmermann	7–5, 6–4
Win	15–8	Apr 2015	ITF Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy	W25	Clay	Mihaela Buzărnescu	Corinna Dentoni Claudia Giovine	6–3, 2–6, [10–4]
Loss	15–9	May 2015	ITF Antalya, Turkey	W10	Clay	Tea Faber	Francesca Palmigiano Carla Touly	4–6, 0–6
Loss	15–10	Jun 2015	ITF Galați, Romania	W25	Clay	Diana Buzean	Cristina Dinu Lina Gjorcheska	4–6, 2–6
Win	16–10	Sep 2015	ITF Varna, Bulgaria	W10	Clay	Isabella Shinikova	Julieta Lara Estable Ana Victoria Gobbi Monllau	7–5, 4–6, [10–4]
Win	17–10	Mar 2016	ITF Tarragona, Spain	W10	Clay	Alyona Sotnikova	Georgina García Pérez Olga Sáez Larra	7–5, 3–6, [10–8]
Win	18–10	Apr 2016	ITF Hammamet, Tunisia	W10	Clay	Alice Bacquie	Inès Ibbou Kelia Le Bihan	6–1, 6–0
Loss	18–11	May 2016	ITF Båstad, Sweden	W10	Clay	Melanie Stokke	Emilie Francati Cornelia Lister	2–6, 4–6
Loss	18–12	Jun 2016	ITF Hódmezővásárhely, Hungary	W25	Clay	Lina Gjorcheska	Laura Pigossi Nadia Podoroska	3–6, 0–6
Loss	18–13	Jun 2016	ITF Lenzerheide, Switzerland	W25	Clay	Elyne Boeykens	Tadeja Majerič Aleksandrina Naydenova	5–7, 6–1, [8–10]
Win	19–13	Jul 2016	Bella Cup Toruń, Poland	W25	Clay	Valeria Savinykh	Akgul Amanmuradova Valentina Ivakhnenko	6–3, 4–6, [10–7]
Win	20–13	Aug 2016	ITF Bad Saulgau, Germany	W25	Clay	Oleksandra Korashvili	Nicola Geuer Anna Zaja	7–5, 4–6, [10–4]
Loss	20–14	Sep 2016	ITF Mamaia, Romania	W25	Clay	Mihaela Buzărnescu	Vivien Juhászová Kateřina Kramperová	6–7(3), 6–2, [7–10]
Loss	20–15	Sep 2016	ITF Hódmezővásárhely, Hungary	W25	Clay	Elena Bogdan	Conny Perrin Chantal Škamlová	4–6, 2–6
Win	21–15	Oct 2016	Soho Square Tournament, Egypt	W100	Hard	Alena Fomina	Guadalupe Pérez Rojas Jil Teichmann	6–2, 6–1
Loss	21–16	Feb 2017	ITF Perth, Australia	W25	Hard	Prarthana Thombare	Junri Namigata Riko Sawayanagi	6–7(5), 6–4, [9–11]
Win	22–16	Apr 2017	ITF Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy	W25	Clay	Tereza Mrdeža	Sara Cakarevic Nicoleta Dascălu	6–4, 6–2
Win	23–16	May 2017	ITF Dunakeszi, Hungary	W25	Clay	Mihaela Buzărnescu	Daiana Negreanu Oana Georgeta Simion	1–6, 6–1, [10–3]
Win	24–16	Sep 2017	Ladies Open Dunakeszi, Hungary	W60	Clay	Chantal Škamlová	Alexandra Cadanțu Tereza Smitková	7–6(7), 6–4
Win	25–16	Sep 2017	Open de Biarritz, France	W80	Clay	Mihaela Buzărnescu	Cristina Bucșa Isabelle Wallace	6–3, 6–1
Loss	25–17	Sep 2017	Open de Saint-Malo, France	W60	Clay	Mihaela Buzărnescu	Diāna Marcinkēviča Daniela Seguel	3–6, 3–6
Win	26–17	Apr 2018	ITF Indian Harbor Beach, United States	W60	Clay	Sílvia Soler Espinosa	Jessica Pegula Maria Sanchez	6–4, 6–2
Win	27–17	Sep 2018	Open de Biarritz, France (2)	W80	Clay	Valentina Ivakhnenko	Ysaline Bonaventure Helène Scholsen	6–4, 6–1
Win	28–17	Sep 2019	Open de Valencia, Spain	W60	Clay	Rebeka Masarova	Andrea Gámiz Seone Mendez	6–4, 7–6(2)
Win	29–17	Oct 2019	Kiskút Open, Hungary	W60	Clay (i)	Maryna Zanevska	Akgul Amanmuradova Elena Bogdan	3–6, 6–2, [10–8]
Loss	29–18	Apr 2022	Clay Court Championships, United States	W100	Clay	Lucrezia Stefanini	Sophie Chang Angela Kulikov	4–6, 6–3, [8–10]
Loss	29–19	Mar 2023	Maribor Open, Slovenia	W40	Hard (i)	Andreea Mitu	Sofya Lansere Anastasia Tikhonova	3–6, 2–6
Win	30–19	Apr 2023	Koper Open, Slovenia	W60	Clay	Andreea Mitu	Suzan Lamens Kaylah McPhee	6–2, 6–3
Win	31–19	Sep 2023	Vienna Open, Austria	W60	Clay	Weronika Falkowska	Melanie Klaffner Sinja Kraus	6–3, 2–6, [13–11]
Win	32–19	Oct 2023	ITF Heraklion, Greece	W40	Clay	Dalila Jakupović	Oana Gavrilă Sapfo Sakellaridi	3–6, 7–6(6), [10–8]
Win	33–19	Mar 2024	ITF Nagpur, India	W35	Clay	Dalila Jakupovic	Ku Yeon-woo Justina Mikulskytė	6–7(8), 7–6(5), [10–7]

Head-to-head record

Record against top 10 players

• She has a 0–3 (0%) record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.

Result	W–L	Opponent	Rank	Event	Surface	Round	Score	Rank	H2H
2020
Loss	0–1	Sofia Kenin	No. 6	French Open	Clay	3R	2–6, 0–6	No. 142
2022
Loss	0–2	Paula Badosa	No. 4	Wimbledon, UK	Grass	2R	3–6, 2–6	No. 122
Loss	0–3	Anett Kontaveit	No. 2	Hamburg Open, Germany	Clay	1R	3–6, 6–7(3–7)	No. 125