| Fullname | Gabriela Talabă Lee |
|---|---|
| Birth date | 23 August 1995 (age 31) |
| Birth place | Galați, Romania[1] |
| Height | 1.72 m |
| College | Texas Tech University |
| Plays | Left (one-handed backhand) |
| Careerprizemoney | US$434,378 |
| Singlestitles | 6 ITF |
| Highestsinglesranking | No. 136 (1 August 2022) |
| Currentsinglesranking | No. 349 (30 March 2026) |
| Australianopenresult | Q1 (2021, 2022, 2023) |
| Frenchopenresult | Q2 (2021) |
| Wimbledonresult | Q1 (2021, 2022) |
| Usopenresult | Q2 (2022) |
| Doublestitles | 10 ITF |
| Highestdoublesranking | No. 229 (1 August 2022) |
| Currentdoublesranking | No. 502 (30 March 2026) |
| Updated | 21 July 2025 |
Gabriela Lee (née Talabă; born 23 August 1995) is a Romanian professional tennis player.
She has a career-high WTA singles ranking of 136, achieved on 1 August 2022, and a best doubles ranking of world No. 229, set on the same date. She has won six singles and 10 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.
Career
Lee played collegiate tennis at Texas Tech University. She helped the Lady Raiders to four straight NCAA tournament berths, four straight Sweet 16 appearances, two Elite Eight appearances and the highest ranking in program history (No. 5).[2]
She made her WTA Tour doubles main-draw debut at the Lexington Open, having received a wildcard into the doubles tournament, partnering Caitlin Whoriskey.[citation needed]
In September 2020, Lee entered the qualifying round of the French Open, her first Grand Slam tournament ever played. However, she lost her first match against Clara Tauson from Denmark.[3]
She qualified for the 2021 Charleston Open main draw making her WTA Tour and WTA 500 singles debuts. She lost to eventual runner-up Danka Kovinić in the first round.[4][5]
Lee recorded her first WTA Tour match win at the 2021 Poland Open as a lucky loser over Cypriot qualifier Raluca Serban.[6]
In 2022, she qualified into the main draw of the Charleston Open for a second year in a row but lost to Jasmine Paolini.[7]
Lee gained direct entry into the 2023 Morocco Open, losing her opening match to Léolia Jeanjean.[8]
Having qualified for the 2023 Montevideo Open, Lee defeated wildcard entrant Lucía de Santa Ana to reach the second round,[9] where she was double baggled by second seed and eventual champion Renata Zarazúa.[10]
Ranked No. 313, she also qualified for the singles main draw at the 2024 Charleston Open but lost to Ashlyn Krueger.[11] Despite the loss she returned to the top 300.[12] Later that year, Lee qualified for the 2024 Fifth Third Charleston 125 2, where wins over lucky loser Kayla Cross[13] and eighth seed Iva Jovic saw her reach the quarterfinals,[14] at which point her run was ended by wildcard entrant Lauren Davis in three sets.[15]
WTA Challenger finals
Doubles: 1 (0 titles, 1 runner-up)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Sep 2025 | WTA 125 San Sebastián, Spain | Clay | Elvina Kalieva | Anastasia Tikhonova Tara Würth | 3–6, 0–6 |
Performance timeline
Singles
Current through the 2023 Morocco Open.
| Tournament | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | W–L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | |||||
| Australian Open | A | Q1 | Q1 | Q1 | 0–0 |
| French Open | Q1 | Q2 | Q1 | A | 0–0 |
| Wimbledon | NH | Q1 | Q1 | A | 0–0 |
| US Open | A | Q1 | Q2 | A | 0–0 |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| WTA 1000 | |||||
| Guadalajara Open | NH | Q1 | A | 0–0 | |
| Career statistics | |||||
| Tournaments | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Overall win-loss | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–5 |
ITF Circuit finals
Singles: 11 (6 titles, 5 runner-ups)
| Legend |
|---|
| W100 tournaments (1–0) |
| W75 tournaments (0–2) |
| W50 tournaments (1–0) |
| W25 tournaments (2–2) |
| W10/15 tournaments (2–1) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Aug 2014 | ITF Bucharest, Romania | W10 | Clay | Cristina Stancu | 4–6, 6–3, 2–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Jul 2016 | ITF Târgu Jiu, Romania | W10 | Clay | Jaqueline Cristian | 6–7(5), 3–6 |
| Win | 1–2 | Aug 2017 | ITF Bucharest, Romania | W15 | Clay | Victoria Bosio | 7–5, 6–4 |
| Win | 2–2 | Sep 2018 | ITF Marbella, Spain | W15 | Clay | Aleksandrina Naydenova | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Win | 3–2 | Oct 2018 | ITF Charleston Pro, United States | W25 | Clay | Elizabeth Halbauer | 6–4, 6–7(5), 6–2 |
| Win | 4–2 | Sep 2019 | ITF Redding, United States | W25 | Hard | Alycia Parks | 6–1, 6–1 |
| Loss | 4–3 | Sep 2020 | ITF Frýdek-Místek, Czech Republic | W25 | Clay | Zheng Qinwen | 6–3, 4–6, 0–6 |
| Win | 5–3 | May 2022 | ITF Bonita Springs, United States | W100 | Clay | Katarzyna Kawa | 6–1, 6–3 |
| Loss | 5–4 | Jan 2024 | Vero Beach Open, United States | W75+H | Clay | María Lourdes Carlé | 4–6, 6–7(4) |
| Win | 6–4 | May 2025 | ITF Pelham, United States | W50 | Clay | Robin Anderson | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Loss | 6–5 | Jul 2025 | ITF Olomouc, Czech Republic | W75 | Clay | Ana Sofía Sánchez | 5–7, 7–5, 3–6 |
Doubles: 18 (10 titles, 8 runner-ups)
| Legend |
|---|
| W60 tournaments (0–1) |
| W25 tournaments (4–3) |
| W10/15 tournaments (6–4) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Jun 2013 | ITF Balș, Romania | W10 | Clay | Oana Georgeta Simion | Jaqueline Cristian Raluca Elena Platon | 6–7(4), 4–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Dec 2013 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | W10 | Clay | Patricia Maria Țig | Irina Bara Conny Perrin | 3–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 0–3 | Feb 2014 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | W10 | Clay | Patricia Maria Țig | Li Yihong Zhu Lin | 2–6, ret. |
| Loss | 0–4 | Jul 2014 | ITF Iași, Romania | W10 | Clay | Oana Georgeta Simion | Raluca Elena Platon Cristina Stancu | 6–2, 4–6, [6–10] |
| Win | 1–4 | Jun 2015 | ITF Galați, Romania | W10 | Clay | Oana Georgeta Simion | Daniela Ciobanu Camelia Hristea | 4–6, 7–5, [10–8] |
| Win | 2–4 | Jul 2016 | ITF Focșani, Romania | W10 | Clay | Oana Georgeta Simion | Daniela Ciobanu Kassandra Davesne | 5–7, 6–1, [10–6] |
| Win | 3–4 | Aug 2016 | ITF Galați, Romania | W10 | Clay | Oana Georgeta Simion | Karola Patricia Bejenaru Georgia Crăciun | 5–7, 6–4, [10–3] |
| Win | 4–4 | Aug 2017 | ITF Bucharest, Romania | W15 | Clay | Oana Georgeta Simion | Elena Bogdan Elena-Teodora Cadar | 6–3, 0–6, [12–10] |
| Loss | 4–5 | Jun 2018 | ITF Baton Rouge, US | W25 | Hard | Astra Sharma | Hayley Carter Ena Shibahara | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 5–5 | Jul 2018 | ITF Horb, Germany | W25 | Hard | Oana Georgeta Simion | Jana Jablonovská Vivien Juhászová | 6–3, 6–0 |
| Win | 6–5 | Sep 2018 | ITF Marbella, Spain | W15 | Clay | Claudia Hoste Ferrer | Ana Lantigua de la Nuez Ángeles Moreno Barranquero | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Win | 7–5 | Sep 2018 | ITF Varna, Bulgaria | W15 | Clay | Aymet Uzcátegui | İpek Öz Melis Sezer | 3–6, 7–5, [10–5] |
| Loss | 7–6 | Oct 2018 | ITF Charleston Pro, US | W25 | Clay | Hsu Chieh-yu | Sophie Chang Alexandra Mueller | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 7–7 | Apr 2019 | ITF Pelham, US | W25 | Clay | Oana Georgeta Simion | Usue Maitane Arconada Caroline Dolehide | 3–6, 0–6 |
| Win | 8–7 | Aug 2019 | ITF Fort Worth, US | W25 | Hard | Hsu Chieh-yu | Elysia Bolton Jada Hart | 7–6(8), 7–5 |
| Win | 9–7 | Aug 2019 | ITF Guayaquil, Ecuador | W25 | Clay | Katerina Stewart | Yuliana Lizarazo Camila Osorio | 6–7(1), 7–6(6), [10–7] |
| Loss | 9–8 | Sep 2019 | ITF Templeton Pro, US | W60 | Hard | Marcela Zacarías | Vladica Babić Caitlin Whoriskey | 4–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 10–8 | Nov 2019 | ITF Naples, US | W25 | Clay | María Portillo Ramírez | Lea Bošković Seone Mendez | 7–5, 6–2 |
References
- ^ "About Gabriela Talaba". www.gabrielatalaba.com
- ^ "2017-18 Women's Tennis Roster - Gabriela Talaba". texastech.com.
- ^ "Gabriela Talaba". lakestennis.com.
- ^ "Talaba Qualifies for Volvo Car Open". texastech.com. 5 April 2021.
- ^ "Welcome to the Tour: All of 2021's WTA debutantes". Women's Tennis Association. 9 November 2021.
- ^ "Warsaw: With 1HBH, Lee defeats Cypriot Serban for 1st WTA victory". Women's Tennis Association.
- ^ "Charleston: Paolini off the mark with straight-sets win over Lee". Women's Tennis Association.
- ^ "Morocco Open: Jeanjean books spot in last 16". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ "Montevideo Open: Lee makes second round". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ "Montevideo Open: Zarazua moves into last 8". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ "Charleston Open: Krueger battles into second round". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived 2024-04-01 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Fifth Third Charleston 125 2: Lee advances to last 16". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ "Fifth Third Charleston 125 2: Jovic upset by Lee in second round". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ "Fifth Third Charleston 125 2: Davis recovers from a set down v Lee to reach semi-finals". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 12 December 2024.