H2H data updated: 2026-09-14 00:00 UTC

Polona Hercog vs Monica Niculescu H2H: 2-1

Polona Hercog holds a 2–1 lead over Monica Niculescu in their WTA head-to-head. Across 3 main-draw meetings, they are tied 1–1 on clay, while Polona Hercog leads 1–0 on hard courts. Most recently, Polona Hercog won the 2016 Bucharest second round 6-4 6-3.

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Polona Hercog
Slovenia Age 35 Right-Handed 185 cm / 6'1"
H2H
2 – 1
3 main-draw meetings
Monica Niculescu
Romania Age 38 Right-Handed 168 cm / 5'6"

H2H Match Log

PlayerScorePlayerMatch DataDateRoundTournamentCategorySurface
Polona Hercog #84 6-4 6-3 Monica Niculescu #53 Match data Jul 15, 2016* R16 Bucharest International → modern equivalent WTA 250 Clay
Polona Hercog #94 6-1 7-5 Monica Niculescu #46 Match data Jan 8, 2015* R32 Shenzhen International → modern equivalent WTA 250 Hard
Monica Niculescu #68 6-2 2-6 7-6(3) Polona Hercog #61 Match data Jul 12, 2014* QF Bucharest International → modern equivalent WTA 250 Clay

Estimated match date where the exact historical date is unavailable. Arrows show an edition's recorded category and documented modern equivalent; unresolved editions keep their recorded category. Asterisked totals include editions mapped from documented historical predecessor categories. Mapping details.

Career Comparison

Player Current Peak Pts Elo W L Win % GS 1000 including documented historical predecessor categories Finals 500 including documented historical predecessor categories 250 including documented historical predecessor categories Titles
Polona Hercog #236 #35 1,605 1,767 170 214 44.3% 0 0 0 0 3 3
Monica Niculescu #958 #28 1,960 1,779 179 214 45.5% 0 0 0 0 3 3

Career Progression by Age

Seasons are aligned by the age each player spent most of that calendar year. GS and Titles are cumulative career totals through that season.

Age Polona Hercog Monica Niculescu
YrW-LWin %RankEloGSTitles YrW-LWin %RankEloGSTitles
16 2007 0–1 0.0% #375 1,488 0 0 — — — — — — —
17 2008 0–2 0.0% #245 1,470 0 0 — — — — — — —
18 2009 6–8 42.9% #68 1,501 0 0 — — — — — — —
19 2010 26–24 52.0% #47 1,633 0 0 2007 0–1 0.0% #152 1,490 0 0
20 2011 27–25 51.9% #36 1,698 0 1 2008 8–15 34.8% #48 1,543 0 0
21 2012 14–21 40.0% #76 1,665 0 2 2009 10–22 31.2% #103 1,522 0 0
22 2013 10–10 50.0% #65 1,673 0 2 2010 6–9 40.0% #82 1,574 0 0
23 2014 12–16 42.9% #97 1,638 0 2 2011 21–15 58.3% #30 1,757 0 0
24 2015 19–23 45.2% #73 1,606 0 2 2012 15–23 39.5% #58 1,639 0 0
25 2016 10–18 35.7% #143 1,558 0 2 2013 22–21 51.2% #59 1,635 0 1
26 2017 2–2 50.0% #101 1,571 0 2 2014 22–19 53.7% #46 1,688 0 2
27 2018 15–19 44.1% #85 1,623 0 2 2015 20–21 48.8% #39 1,676 0 2
28 2019 19–21 47.5% #49 1,715 0 3 2016 26–19 57.8% #38 1,758 0 3
29 2020 6–8 42.9% #49 1,684 0 3 2017 12–19 38.7% #77 1,622 0 3
30 2021 4–15 21.1% #134 1,589 0 3 2018 9–15 37.5% #99 1,591 0 3
31 — — — — — — — 2019 8–10 44.4% #118 1,638 0 3
32 — — — — — — — 2020 0–2 0.0% #144 1,586 0 3
33 — — — — — — — 2021 0–3 0.0% #274 1,519 0 3
35 2026 0–1 0.0% #236 1,586 0 3 — — — — — — —

Surface Results by Age

Seasons are aligned by the age each player spent most of that calendar year. Results cover completed main-draw matches. Bold green marks the higher win percentage when both players have at least 5 matches on that surface at the aligned age.

Age Polona Hercog Monica Niculescu
Yr HardClayGrassCarpet Yr HardClayGrassCarpet
W L M Win % W L M Win % W L M Win % W L M Win % W L M Win % W L M Win % W L M Win % W L M Win %
16 2007 0 1 1 0.0% — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
17 2008 0 1 1 0.0% 0 1 1 0.0% — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
18 2009 1 4 5 20.0% 5 4 9 55.6% — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
19 2010 13 13 26 50.0% 13 10 23 56.5% 0 1 1 0.0% — — — — 2007 0 1 1 0.0% — — — — — — — — — — — —
20 2011 10 14 24 41.7% 16 9 25 64.0% 1 2 3 33.3% — — — — 2008 6 10 16 37.5% 1 3 4 25.0% 1 2 3 33.3% — — — —
21 2012 4 12 16 25.0% 10 6 16 62.5% 0 2 2 0.0% 0 1 1 0.0% 2009 6 13 19 31.6% 3 6 9 33.3% 0 2 2 0.0% 1 1 2 50.0%
22 2013 7 8 15 46.7% 3 2 5 60.0% — — — — — — — — 2010 4 7 11 36.4% 1 1 2 50.0% 1 1 2 50.0% — — — —
23 2014 3 8 11 27.3% 8 6 14 57.1% 1 2 3 33.3% — — — — 2011 17 9 26 65.4% 3 4 7 42.9% 1 2 3 33.3% — — — —
24 2015 10 15 25 40.0% 8 6 14 57.1% 1 2 3 33.3% — — — — 2012 12 15 27 44.4% 1 5 6 16.7% 1 2 3 33.3% 1 1 2 50.0%
25 2016 1 8 9 11.1% 9 7 16 56.3% 0 3 3 0.0% — — — — 2013 20 14 34 58.8% 2 4 6 33.3% 0 2 2 0.0% 0 1 1 0.0%
26 2017 — — — — 0 1 1 0.0% 2 1 3 66.7% — — — — 2014 18 14 32 56.3% 4 4 8 50.0% 0 1 1 0.0% — — — —
27 2018 4 9 13 30.8% 10 7 17 58.8% 1 3 4 25.0% — — — — 2015 10 14 24 41.7% 3 3 6 50.0% 7 4 11 63.6% — — — —
28 2019 6 14 20 30.0% 8 4 12 66.7% 5 3 8 62.5% — — — — 2016 23 13 36 63.9% 2 5 7 28.6% 1 1 2 50.0% — — — —
29 2020 1 2 3 33.3% 5 6 11 45.5% — — — — — — — — 2017 11 13 24 45.8% 0 4 4 0.0% 1 2 3 33.3% — — — —
30 2021 2 8 10 20.0% 2 5 7 28.6% 0 2 2 0.0% — — — — 2018 9 14 23 39.1% — — — — 0 1 1 0.0% — — — —
31 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 2019 7 8 15 46.7% — — — — 1 2 3 33.3% — — — —
32 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 2020 0 1 1 0.0% 0 1 1 0.0% — — — — — — — —
33 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 2021 0 2 2 0.0% — — — — 0 1 1 0.0% — — — —
35 2026 — — — — 0 1 1 0.0% — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Career — 62 117 179 34.6% 97 75 172 56.4% 11 21 32 34.4% 0 1 1 0.0% — 143 148 291 49.1% 20 40 60 33.3% 14 23 37 37.8% 2 3 5 40.0%

Performance Progression by Age

Seasons are aligned by the age each player spent most of that calendar year. Detailed serve and return statistics available for 352/384 of Polona Hercog's and 341/394 of Monica Niculescu's main draw matches. Sample is shown as matches with detailed serve and return statistics / total main draw matches. Bold green marks the stronger value when both stat samples contain at least 5 matches; lower is better for DFs/M.

Age Polona Hercog Monica Niculescu
Yr Sample Aces/M DFs/M 1st Sv% 1st Pts% 2nd Pts% BP Saved% BP Conv% Svc Pts% Ret Pts% Yr Sample Aces/M DFs/M 1st Sv% 1st Pts% 2nd Pts% BP Saved% BP Conv% Svc Pts% Ret Pts%
16 2007 1/1 6.0 5.0 69.5% 58.5% 36.1% 41.7% 80.0% 51.7% 39.4% — —/— — — — — — — — — —
17 2008 1/2 0.0 5.0 84.0% 47.1% 23.1% 41.7% 62.5% 43.2% 45.7% — —/— — — — — — — — — —
18 2009 13/14 2.1 2.8 61.8% 62.6% 45.1% 51.3% 42.4% 55.6% 39.8% — —/— — — — — — — — — —
19 2010 46/50 2.2 2.7 62.0% 64.2% 48.6% 54.1% 48.1% 58.3% 42.8% 2007 1/1 0.0 4.0 57.4% 45.2% 34.8% 25.0% 100.0% 40.7% 30.8%
20 2011 46/52 2.6 2.7 65.1% 62.0% 48.8% 53.0% 47.3% 57.5% 41.9% 2008 19/23 1.3 1.9 72.5% 54.5% 38.0% 41.9% 45.0% 49.9% 43.0%
21 2012 33/35 2.2 2.4 60.0% 62.3% 44.3% 46.0% 48.7% 54.8% 40.5% 2009 30/32 1.0 1.4 71.6% 55.9% 46.3% 44.0% 48.4% 52.8% 43.8%
22 2013 14/20 2.7 2.5 66.6% 64.4% 51.1% 53.5% 45.6% 60.1% 42.5% 2010 12/15 0.3 1.0 73.4% 53.0% 39.4% 47.7% 45.0% 49.3% 43.9%
23 2014 24/28 3.0 2.8 57.1% 63.5% 46.2% 54.4% 38.9% 55.9% 39.8% 2011 29/36 0.7 1.5 74.9% 55.3% 46.1% 44.2% 60.9% 52.3% 48.8%
24 2015 37/42 2.8 3.1 63.8% 65.6% 52.4% 50.3% 53.0% 60.8% 40.6% 2012 33/38 1.3 1.1 67.1% 58.0% 47.7% 51.8% 46.0% 54.3% 43.3%
25 2016 26/28 2.0 3.4 58.7% 59.2% 43.1% 50.2% 52.7% 52.7% 43.8% 2013 37/43 0.8 1.5 74.6% 59.2% 45.9% 47.0% 52.2% 55.3% 49.4%
26 2017 4/4 3.8 3.8 60.4% 66.7% 48.5% 45.5% 48.2% 59.6% 45.1% 2014 34/41 1.2 3.1 70.2% 60.8% 41.3% 50.8% 59.1% 55.0% 51.0%
27 2018 34/34 3.2 3.9 55.6% 63.3% 48.9% 62.2% 37.8% 56.8% 41.5% 2015 32/41 1.1 2.8 70.4% 60.4% 46.2% 47.8% 43.9% 55.9% 43.1%
28 2019 39/40 3.5 4.3 55.9% 67.1% 48.4% 54.9% 46.8% 58.6% 40.7% 2016 41/46 1.3 1.9 71.6% 57.0% 43.8% 43.2% 51.4% 53.4% 50.0%
29 2020 14/14 2.1 3.4 56.8% 63.2% 46.7% 52.4% 53.1% 55.6% 44.0% 2017 27/31 0.4 1.2 82.8% 52.1% 47.0% 51.7% 49.9% 51.2% 44.9%
30 2021 19/19 3.4 3.6 55.4% 63.7% 43.6% 44.1% 34.2% 55.0% 39.2% 2018 23/24 0.3 1.5 77.6% 55.6% 46.3% 46.4% 51.8% 53.0% 47.4%
31 — —/— — — — — — — — — — 2019 18/18 0.4 1.5 79.1% 56.5% 45.6% 37.0% 46.4% 54.6% 46.2%
32 — —/— — — — — — — — — — 2020 2/2 1.0 1.5 79.6% 49.7% 35.3% 49.4% 42.2% 46.7% 40.2%
33 — —/— — — — — — — — — — 2021 3/3 0.3 1.3 74.9% 47.5% 49.1% 46.0% 50.0% 46.5% 36.7%
35 2026 1/1 0.0 1.0 37.5% 100.0% 40.0% — — 62.5% 14.3% — —/— — — — — — — — — —
Career — 352/384 2.7 3.2 60.1% 63.7% 47.5% 52.3% 46.3% 57.1% 41.4% — 341/394 0.9 1.8 73.4% 56.9% 44.8% 46.4% 50.7% 53.3% 46.5%

Advanced Statistics Comparison by Age

Seasons are aligned by the age each player spent most of that calendar year. Metrics use eligible main-draw results; point statistics use matches with detailed data. Bold green marks the stronger value when both underlying samples are sufficient. Lower is better for Schedule because a negative value means a tougher schedule. Career Schedule is normalized per 100 matches.

Age Polona Hercog Monica Niculescu
Yr Elo P+ Serve+ Return+ PD TPW% Hard Elo Clay Elo Grass Elo Set Win % Set Margin Dec. Set Tiebreak Pressure+ Schedule Yr Elo P+ Serve+ Return+ PD TPW% Hard Elo Clay Elo Grass Elo Set Win % Set Margin Dec. Set Tiebreak Pressure+ Schedule
16 2007 1489 100.3 -2.72 -1.27 0.816 46.1% — — — 33.3% -1.33 0–1 1–0 — -0.06 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
17 2008 1470 102.5 -2.06 -1.94 0.805 44.4% — — — 20.0% -1.20 0–1 — — -0.18 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
18 2009 1501 106.8 +0.29 -3.10 0.898 48.1% -40 +89 — 40.6% -0.53 3–1 (75%) 1–2 (33%) 102.8 +0.08 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
19 2010 1634 130.1 +2.35 -0.89 1.024 50.4% -68 +49 — 50.0% +0.14 4–8 (33%) 1–2 (33%) 96.6 -0.18 2007 1491 98.2 -0.35 +1.13 0.519 36.6% — — — 0.0% -4.50 — — — +0.05
20 2011 1699 128.3 +1.64 -2.16 0.985 49.5% -94 +106 -139 51.3% +0.03 9–6 (60%) 5–8 (38%) 100.2 -0.20 2008 1543 120.1 -2.90 -0.19 0.859 46.3% +10 -13 +47 34.6% -1.12 4–6 (40%) 1–2 (33%) 99.8 +0.05
21 2012 1666 121.2 -0.89 -2.18 0.897 47.5% -100 +153 — 40.3% -0.94 4–3 (57%) 3–4 (43%) 101.7 -1.34 2009 1523 112.7 -2.66 -0.26 0.928 48.0% +26 -22 — 34.7% -1.10 3–7 (30%) 2–1 (67%) — +0.79
22 2013 1674 131.4 +2.50 +0.02 1.065 51.3% -74 +126 — 52.2% +0.52 2–6 (25%) 1–6 (14%) 91.8 -0.86 2010 1574 117.8 -2.83 +0.34 0.866 46.8% -1 — — 41.7% -0.81 3–3 (50%) 1–2 (33%) 101.0 -0.32
23 2014 1639 121.6 -0.49 -2.45 0.903 48.0% -47 +97 -116 43.5% -0.42 5–3 (63%) 3–5 (38%) 100.2 -1.81 2011 1758 133.3 -2.06 +3.84 1.021 50.5% -10 -238 -215 53.8% +0.41 7–3 (70%) 3–5 (38%) 103.5 +0.37
24 2015 1606 121.6 +1.66 -0.91 1.034 50.7% -33 +93 -84 49.5% -0.03 5–14 (26%) 4–5 (44%) 91.7 +0.24 2012 1640 125.0 -1.30 -0.32 0.949 48.8% +48 -164 -85 42.4% -0.47 3–8 (27%) 6–1 (86%) 96.9 +0.44
25 2016 1559 116.5 -2.35 +0.40 0.926 48.3% -25 +109 -113 42.4% -0.37 2–5 (29%) 4–1 (80%) 98.5 -1.05 2013 1635 132.6 -0.55 +4.14 1.104 52.3% +66 -181 — 52.1% +0.24 6–8 (43%) 4–2 (67%) 97.6 -0.53
26 2017 1571 105.5 +0.03 -1.29 1.118 51.8% — — -87 50.0% +0.60 1–1 0–2 — +0.25 2014 1688 140.2 -1.17 +5.03 1.133 53.0% +7 -148 — 57.1% +1.03 8–12 (40%) 2–6 (25%) 93.9 -0.85
27 2018 1624 119.4 -0.20 -1.09 0.959 49.0% -61 +57 -123 45.8% -0.32 3–5 (38%) 3–4 (43%) 97.3 -0.53 2015 1677 131.5 -1.57 +1.81 0.978 49.6% -20 -106 -62 50.0% +0.03 10–10 (50%) 4–0 (100%) 105.1 -0.95
28 2019 1715 133.2 +1.87 -1.25 0.983 49.7% -111 +63 -107 47.9% -0.16 8–10 (44%) 6–10 (38%) 98.0 -0.38 2016 1759 135.4 -1.87 +5.53 1.073 51.7% +23 -229 — 56.0% +0.42 8–6 (57%) 1–4 (20%) 100.6 +0.22
29 2020 1685 125.8 +0.14 +0.43 0.991 50.0% -59 +53 — 48.5% -0.03 1–4 (20%) 0–3 (0%) — +0.33 2017 1622 118.4 -3.66 +1.26 0.920 48.1% +24 -137 -27 40.9% -0.64 5–5 (50%) 3–2 (60%) 100.1 +0.21
30 2021 1590 121.5 -0.67 -1.96 0.871 46.9% -38 +130 — 30.4% -1.39 2–6 (25%) 0–4 (0%) 92.6 -1.36 2018 1591 133.1 -2.27 +2.61 1.010 50.2% +6 — — 39.6% -0.48 3–5 (38%) 1–2 (33%) — -0.38
31 2022 1573 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 2019 1638 129.0 -1.03 +1.89 1.019 50.3% +11 — -43 46.2% -0.05 3–4 (43%) 2–5 (29%) 98.8 -0.23
32 2023 1581 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 2020 1587 99.7 -1.05 +1.06 0.754 43.7% — — — 33.3% -2.34 0–2 — — -0.11
33 2024 1577 99.9 — — — — — — — — — — — — — 2021 1519 98.6 -2.42 -0.40 0.685 41.9% — — — 0.0% -3.17 — — — -0.37
34 2025 1620 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
35 2026 1586 99.1 -0.36 -0.84 0.381 40.0% — — — — — — — — -0.19 2023 1531 101.7 — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Career — 1767 129.3 +0.66 -1.31 0.965 49.2% -68 +90 -110 46.2% -0.23 49–74 (40%) 32–56 (36%) 87.4 -1.91 — 1780 134.0 -1.87 +2.44 0.996 49.9% +19 -140 -64 46.8% -0.13 63–79 (44%) 30–32 (48%) 97.9 -0.41

Career Rivalries

Each player's five most-played main-draw opponents. The current matchup is highlighted when it appears in a player's top five.