Tara Moore

Tara Shanice Moore (born 6 August 1992) is an inactive Hong Kong-born British tennis player. She achieved career-high rankings by the WTA of 145 in singles and No. 77 in doubles. In her career, she won nine singles titles and 18 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.

As a junior, she was coached by the American tennis coach, Nick Bollettieri. In September 2006, he referred to Moore as one of the best young players in his school, the Bollettieri Tennis Academy, along with Michelle Larcher de Brito.^[1] Her coach was Charles Homewood. Her favourite surface is stated as being grass although most of her titles to date have come on hardcourt.^[2]

Moore is currently serving a four-year competition ban set to end in December 2027 for an anti-doping rule violation relating to a failed test in 2022.^[3]

Career

2006–2007

Moore's first professional tennis match came in August 2006 at the $10k tournament in Guayaquil, Ecuador. She won two matches to qualify before losing in the first round of the tournament. Moore then moved on to qualify and reach the quarterfinals in only the second ITF tournament of her career in Caracas, Venezuela, another $10k event.^[4]

In 2007, Moore reached the quarterfinals of another $10k event in Irapuato before losing to Ana Clara Duarte of Brazil, in straight sets. In July, she entered her first $25k tournament in Felixstowe, England, where she lost in the qualifying stages. Her next two tournaments were both $10k events in England (Ilkley and Wrexham) and she managed to reach the quarterfinal stages of both of these. She ended the year with three consecutive first-round losses at $25k events. Her year-end ranking for 2007 was world No. 823.^[4]

2008

April and May resulted in three failures to qualify for ITF tournaments, two of which were $25k events, the other a $50k event. She became a quarterfinalist yet again in her next tournament, the $10k in Izmir, Turkey. She then began a successful grass-court season with a wildcard into the qualifying tournament of Wimbledon where she lost in the first round in a valiant three-set battle against former top-40 player Olga Puchkova of Russia. She followed this up immediately with her first ever semifinal in the $25k tournament held in Felixstowe and continued the momentum in the following tournament ($10k Frinton) where she won, beating fellow teenager Mona Barthel of Germany in the final.

Her next noteworthy result of 2008 came on the ITF Circuit in early November at the $10k event in Sunderland, England. She won through two tough three-set matches in the first and second rounds before winning her quarterfinal match in two sets and coming up against Laura Robson, in one of two all-British semifinals. She lost in straight sets to Robson (who was the eventual champion). Immediately after this was the $10k tournament in Jersey. In the second round of this tournament, she played a rematch of her second-round match in the previous tournament in Sunderland. She beat Tetyana Arefyeva in three sets for the second time in two weeks to reach the quarterfinal stage where she was beaten by Katarzyna Piter. She ended season with a singles ranking of world No. 712.^[4]

2009

Moore struggled throughout the year and did not go beyond the quarterfinals in any of the events she competed in. She enjoyed a straight-sets win over former top-20 player Eleni Daniilidou as she qualified for the $50 event in Nottingham. She also competed at the ITF junior events at Roehampton and Wimbledon but lost early in both events as she was drawn against junior world No. 3, Tímea Babos. Post Wimbledon, Moore's best result was qualifying for a $75k event in Shrewsbury before losing to Angelique Kerber. Moore was also asked to leave the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) National Tennis Centre (NTC) as a result of her perceived lack of professionalism and poor attitude. She would end the year in India before heading back to Hong Kong.

2010

New season started very much as 2009 ended for Moore with early losses in her first handful of events. She was training and working out of Hong Kong, following her expulsion from the LTA although in March, Moore began working with British tennis coach John Morris who was also the coach of Tímea Babos, ranked a lowly 790 on the WTA rankings, Moore moved back to Britain to train at Gosling Tennis Academy under the watchful eye of John Morris. Her results started to pick up in spring time of 2010 as she reached the final of a $10k event in Edinburgh, losing to stable mate Tímea Babos, following this up with her first career top-100 win at the $50k event in Nottingham, beating Chang Kai-chen in three tough sets. During the grass-court season, Moore represented Great Britain in the Maureen Connolly trophy, a sign that the LTA were beginning to see the improvements in Moore both on and off court. This was quickly followed by a wildcard into the ITF junior event at Roehampton where Moore beat world junior No. 1, Daria Gavrilova, 6–0, 6–1, before beating the 2010 Australian Open junior champion, Karolína Plíšková, 6–3, 6–1. But Moore found Karolina's twin sister Kristýna Plíšková too hot to handle as Plíšková achieved a rare double of winning both titles at Roehampton and Wimbledon. On to Wimbledon, Moore had some impressive wins and reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal where she played fellow Brit Laura Robson and despite controlling much of the match, Moore lost in two sets although she put herself firmly on the tennis map during the grass-court season and credited John Morris for much of the improvements. Post Wimbledon, Moore won her second career title at a $10k event in Chiswick, as well as her first ITF doubles title, alongside Francesca Stephenson, at a $25k in Wrexham, beating Sania Mirza and Emma Laine in the final. She also made the singles quarterfinals in the latter event, with wins over Emilia Baños Gregorians and Manisha Foster. Moore would go on to reach several quarter- and semifinals before ending the year at the $75k event in Dubai. She achieved several career-high rankings through the year and ended 2010 ranked 370. Moore also became a professional in August 2010 when she signed professional terms with London-based management company Global Tennis Connections (GTC), she also signed a long term deal with Adidas International on the back of her upsurge in form and ranking.

2011–2013

Moore was runner-up in the $10k tournament in Sunderland, and won the $10k in Loughborough where she also won the doubles, partnering fellow Brit Francesca Stephenson. She also reached doubles finals in $10k tournaments in Istanbul, partnering Lisa Whybourn, and in Bath, partnering Emma Laine. She ended 2011 with a singles ranking of No. 332.

Moore won no titles in the 2012 season but finished runner-up in singles in the $50k tournament in Kazan, Russia, and in doubles, partnering fellow Brit player Lucy Brown in a $10k event in Antalya, Turkey. However, she improved her ranking throughout the year, and achieved No. 249 in singles.

She started 2013 winning the $10k singles titles in Glasgow and Preston, and following that with the $25k title in Surprise, Arizona. In partnership with compatriot Melanie South, also winning the doubles titles in Glasgow and in the $25k event in Rancho Mirage, California, and ended runner-up in Preston and in Phuket, Thailand.

Moore debuted in top 200 of the singles rankings on 22 April, and made the cut for the Roland Garros qualifying tournament, her first major outside of Wimbledon, where she has played qualifiers courtesy of wildcards. There she lost to seventh seed Sesil Karatancheva, in the first round of qualifying.

On grass in the UK, Moore was awarded a wildcard into the $75k Nottingham Trophy. She reached the second round, beating 143-ranked Slovenian Tadeja Majerič before falling to 110-ranked Hungarian, Melinda Czink. She then received a wildcard into the WTA Tour Birmingham Classic at Edgbaston where she narrowly lost to 12th seeded Kristina Mladenovic in the first round. This followed with a wildcard into Wimbledon in June, where she faced 46-ranked Estonian, Kaia Kanepi, in the first round. Kanepi went on to win in a close three-setter.^[5]

Back on the ITF Circuit, Moore reached the finals of both the singles and the doubles tournament of the $25k Woking^[6] event on outdoor hardcourt. She lost the singles final to Pemra Özgen in three sets, having held matchpoints. However, she and her Russian partner, Marta Sirotkina, won the doubles, beating Mari Tanaka and Kanae Hisami in the final.

However, in December the LTA cut her funding, citing a lack of results.^[7]

2014–2015

In 2014, Moore made her debut for the British Fed Cup team in the ninth/tenth placed playoff against Austria, and won her first singles rubber.

She impressively saw off Tamira Paszek, a former top-30 player. She also played in Wimbledon as a wildcard but lost in the first round to former Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva in a match that spanned two days. Moore failed to build on her Wimbledon performance on her return to ITF Circuit play, as she won just three singles matches in the rest of the year. She saw her ranking slip outside the top 250 in the world as a consequence.

Her poor form continued in 2015. Playing solely at ITF level, Moore's best result was reaching the semifinals of a $10k tournament in Antalya and a $15k event in Loughborough. This was the first year since 2009 that she had failed to make a singles tournament final. She had more success in doubles, reaching three finals and winning the event Antalya in partnership with Cornelia Lister.^[8]

2016–2019: First WTA Tour doubles final

Moore's 2016 campaign got off to a bright start, as she won her first tournament of the year, a $10k event in Antalya,^[9] beating Anne Schaefer in the final. Following this, Moore and semi-regular doubles partner Conny Perrin played the WTA Tour event in Rio de Janeiro. This was her first WTA event in over two years. Entering would prove a wise choice as Moore and Perrin reached their first ever WTA Tour final,^[10] after a run that included a quarterfinal victory over second seeds Marina Erakovic and Sílvia Soler Espinosa. They were beaten by fourth seeds, Verónica Cepede Royg and María Irigoyen, in the title match.

In April 2019, at a ITF World Tour event in Sunderland against Jessika Ponchet, Moore was trailing 0–6, 0–5 and facing match point, but made a comeback to win 0–6, 7–6, 6–3.^[11]

2024–2025: Return to tennis, doping ban

Moore returned to competitive tennis for the first time after her suspension was lifted when she teamed up with Annali Olivelle to win an ITF World Tour first-round match against Melania Delai and Francesca Pace in Sardinia on 30 April 2024.^[12]

Partnering with Sarah Beth Grey, she reached her first final since her comeback at the grass-court Surbiton Trophy on 7 June but lost out 6–1, 6–1 to Emina Bektas and Aleksandra Krunic.^[13]

On 15 July 2025, Moore was suspended until December 2027 for an anti-doping rule violation from 2022, despite being cleared by an independent tribunal 18 months before.^[3]

2022 Doping case

In June 2022, Moore was provisionally suspended from competition by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) for an anti-doping rule violation after testing positive for boldenone and nandrolone at a tennis competition in Colombia held in April 2022.^[14][15] Bárbara Gatica also tested positive for the same substances at the same event^[16] and their cases were jointly assessed by an independent tribunal panel. In December 2023 the panel ruled that neither player bore any fault nor demonstrated any negligence after concluding that the source of the substances was contaminated meat eaten at the event.^[17][18][19] In January 2024, the BBC reported that the ITIA is appealing against the tribunal's decision, with that appeal to take place at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) at a future date.^[20]

Moore's case was cited as one of the reasons why the Professional Tennis Players Association in 2025 established their Athlete Counsel & Equity (ACE) Program to provide pro-bono legal support to members in anti-doping and anti-corruption cases.^[21]

On 15 July 2025 CAS upheld the ITIA appeal, set aside the tribunal decision and issued Moore with a four-year ban with 19 months credit from the earlier suspension. CAS explained that Moore "did not succeed in proving that the concentration of nandrolone in her sample was consistent with the ingestion of contaminated meat" and that she had "failed to establish that [it] was not intentional".^[3][22]

Personal life

Tara was previously married to fellow professional tennis player Emina Bektas. She was previously in a long-term relationship with her former doubles partner, Conny Perrin.^[23]

WTA career finals

Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 17 (9 titles, 8 runner–ups)

Doubles: 45 (18 titles, 27 runner-ups)

References

1. ^ "Interview: Nick Bolletieri". www.cnn.com. 1 September 2006.
2. ^ "Biography:MOORE, Tara (GBR)". www.itftennis.com.
3. ^ Fuller, Russell (15 July 2025). "British tennis player Moore given four-year doping ban". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
4. ^ "Activity: MOORE Tara (GBR)". www.itftennis.com.
5. ^ "Tara Moore knocked out of Wimbledon"
6. ^ http://www.lta.org.uk/fans-major-eve nts/AEGON-GB-Pro-Series/Calendar/Foxhills1
7. ^ Legard, Jonathan (27 January 2015). "When to hang up the tennis racquet?". BBC News
8. ^ "Antalya 9 Tournament Details". ITF. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
9. ^ "Antalya 1 Tournament Details". ITF. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
10. ^ "Ferrer dumped out in Rio". Sporting Life. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
11. ^ "Tara Moore saves match point at 0-6 0–5 down before beating Jessika Ponchet". BBC Sport. 9 April 2019.
12. ^ "GB's Moore returns after doping ban overturned". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
13. ^ "Lexus Surbiton Trophy 2024: Emina Bektas & Aleksandra Krunic defeat British duo to win women's doubles title". LTA. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
14. ^ "British doubles ace Moore receives doping ban". Reuters. 8 June 2022. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
15. ^ Tennis.com. "Tara Moore provisionally suspended after testing positive for nandrolone metabolites and Boldenone". Tennis.com. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
16. ^ "La chilena Bárbara Gatica, suspendida provisionalmente por dopaje" (in Spanish). ESPN. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
17. ^ Jurejko, Jonathan. "Tara Moore: British tennis player cleared of doping and ban lifted". BBC Sport
18. ^ Mesic, Dzevad. "Tara Moore issues strong statement after being cleared in doping case after 19 months". Tennis World
19. ^ Crooks, Eleanor (4 July 2024). "Tara Moore emotional after making Wimbledon return following doping case ordeal". The Independent. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
20. ^ Fuller, Russell (30 January 2024). "Tara Moore doping clearance decision to be challenged by Tennis Integrity Agency". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
21. ^ Schaefer, Rob (29 January 2025). "PTPA launches service to provide players with legal support". Sports Business Journal
22. ^ "Tara Moore gets four-year ban after CAS panel upholds ITIA's appeal". Tennis.com. 15 July 2015.
23. ^ Rothenberg, Ben (2017-09-22). "Engaged Tennis Players Prefer to Be on the Same Side of the Net (Published 2017)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-15.