Nadia Petrova, Tennis Player, - Biography,
Russian tennis player.
Born June 8,
1982, Moscow, Soviet Union
Height 1.78 m ( 5 foot 10 and a 1/4 )
Weight
65 kg ( 143 Pounds )
Turned Pro September 6, 1999 Plays Right; two-handed
backhand Career Prize Money $5,574,486
Singles Career record: 332-172 Career
titles: 7 WTA, 4 ITF titles Highest ranking: No. 3 (May 15, 2006))
Grand Slam
results Australian Open QF (2006) French Open SF (2003, 2005) Wimbledon QF ( 2005
) U.S. Open QF (2004, 2005)
Doubles Career record: 179-82 Career titles: 12
WTA, 1 ITF titles Highest ranking: No. 3 (March 21, 2005)
Nadia Petrova, or Nadézhda Petróva is a professional tennis player from Russia.
Petrova's career high ranking is World No. 3, a ranking she achieved after beating Justine Henin in the final of the Qatar Telecom German Open in May 2006. She has reached the French Open semi-finals twice in her career, once in 2003 & again in 2005.
Family
Life
Petrova was born 8 June 1982 in Moscow. Her parents were both very athletic
- her father Victor was a leading hammer thrower, while her mother is Nadezhda
Ilyina who won a bronze medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics in the 400 meter relay.
Both her parents are still athletics coaches. As a child, Nadia did a lot of travelling
around the world with her parents. She eventually settled in Egypt, where she
trained with Mohammed Seif & her parents.
Career
Early career
As
a junior, Petrova won the 1998 French Open, beating Jelena Dokic in the final.
The same year she finished runner-up at the prestigious year-ending Orange Bowl
to Elena Dementieva & she also finished runner-up at the junior 1999 US Open
to Lina Krasnoroutskaya. In May 1998, she played her first WTA tournament at the
J&S Cup as a wildcard entrant. She beat Sandra Kleinova in the first round
6-3, 1-6, 6-4 before losing to Joannette Kruger. She also received a wildcard
for her home event in Moscow, the Kremlin Cup, where she picked up her first top
twenty win over Iva Majoli. By the end of 1999, Petrova had reached the top 100.
In 2000, she reached the third round of the Australian Open & the quarter-finals of the Miami Masters, beating Julie Halard-Decugis for her first top ten win before losing to Lindsay Davenport. She finished the season at No. 50, a then-career high. She reached the fourth round of both Roland Garros & the U.S. Open in 2001 & her ranking hit a high of No. 38 during the season. Unfortunately, her 2002 season was marred by injuries causing her ranking to drop out of the top 100.
2003
2003 was arguably Petrova's breakthrough season. Ranked
No. 76 in the world, she stunned all by reaching the semi-finals of Roland Garros,
beating former World No. 1's Monica Seles & Jennifer Capriati to become the
third lowest-ranked player to reach the semi-finals there. Her ranking rose to
a career high of No. 30 after this showing. She also reached the semi-finals of
's-Hertogenbosch, Zurich & Philadelphia, losing to Justine Henin on two of
those occasions. She entered the top twenty for the first time after a third round
showing in the Rogers Cup & by the end of the season had reached No. 12. To
cap it all off, she reached her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final at the end
of the season in Linz, losing to Ai Sugiyama 7-5, 6-4.
Flight Las Vegas Nevada - Find a flight to Las Vegas
2004
Petrova continued
her success during this year, reaching her second final at Gold Coast, losing
once again to Ai Sugiyama 1-6, 6-1, 6-4. She was the victim of an upset in the
first round of the Australian Open to Aniko Kapros, losing 6-3, 6-3.
In March 2004, she finally hit the top ten at No. 9 after reaching the semi-finals of the Miami Masters. She beat Maria Kirilenko, Emilie Loit, Alicia Molik & Nathalie Dechy on the way before losing to Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-2, who would lose the final to Serena Williams. She followed it up superbly at the Bausch & Lomb Championships, reaching the semi-finals there also, beating second-seeded Serena Williams before losing to Lindsay Davenport. After this, her ranking elevated to a new career high of No. 7. However, she dropped out of the top ten in May after failing to defend her semi-final points at Roland Garros, losing to Marlene Weingartner in the third round 6-3, 6-2.
At the 2004 U.S. Open, she pulled off the biggest win of her career by defeating Justine Henin 6-3, 6-2 in the fourth round. Henin was the World No. 1 then & also the defending champion. It was Petrova's first ever victory over a reigning World No. 1. She lost in the quarter-finals to eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6, 6-3. Nadia reached three more semi-finals during the fall season at Bali, Linz & Philadelphia. She finished the season at No. 12, the same place that she finished the 2003 season.
2005
Her
2005 season did not start off brilliantly, retiring in the quarter-finals at both
Gold Coast & Sydney. However, she reached the fourth round of the 2005 Australian
Open, losing to the eventual champion Serena Williams, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. She reached
the semi-finals at the Open Gaz de France, losing to Amélie Mauresmo &
the fourth round at Indian Wells, being beaten by Mary Pierce.
Petrova reached her third career final at the Qatar Telecom German Open in May, beating Klara Koukalova, Mary Pierce, Amélie Mauresmo & Jelena Jankovic to get there, before losing to Justine Henin. Thanks to this showing, her ranking rose back into the top ten at No. 9, where she stayed for the next two years before dropping out in May 2007.
At the French Open, she repeated what she did two years previously by reaching the semi-finals there once again. She beat only one top thirty player en-route, that being twelfth-seeded Elena Bovina. She lost in the semi-finals to Henin 6-2, 6-3, but her ranking rose one place to No. 8, one place off her career high. A few weeks later at Wimbledon she reached her first quarter-final there before losing to Maria Sharapova 7-6, 6-3, who lost in the semi-finals to Venus Williams, the eventual champion. After Wimbledon, she reached five straight quarter-finals at Los Angeles, Toronto, U.S. Open, Luxembourg & Filderstadt. She lost to Clijsters, Mauresmo, Sharapova, Groenefeld & Mauresmo again at these events.
At the PTT Bangkok Open, a Tier III event, she reached her fourth career final, once again losing, this time to Nicole Vaidisova 6-1, 6-7(5), 7-5. Two weeks later, Petrova finally won her first title at the Generali Ladies Linz held in Linz, Austria. She beat Sofia Arvidsson, Sybille Bammer, Kveta Peschke & in the final Patty Schnyder 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, meaning she was now 1-4 in career finals.
Her successful season meant she qualified for the WTA Tour Championships in Los Angeles, USA. She went 1-2 in the round robin stages, losing to Lindsay Davenport 6-2, 7-6 & Patty Schnyder 6-0, 5-7, 6-4, but created a stunning victory over Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2. However, many people feel that Sharapova tanked the match, having already been guaranteed a place in the semi-finals.
2006
Petrova
kicked off her 2006 season by reaching the semi-finals at the ASB Classic, a Tier
IV event. She was the top seed & retired in her semi-final match against Marion
Bartoli, trailing 3-6, 6-4, 2-1. She also retired prior to her quarter-final match
in Sydney. At the 2006 Australian Open, Petrova reached the quarter-finals losing
to fourth-seed Maria Sharapova. She also reached the quarter-finals at the Open
Gaz de France & the semi-finals at the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerpen.
At the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open, she fell in the first round to Maria Kirilenko
6-4, 6-1.
At the Qatar Total Open held in Doha, Petrova picked up her second title by beating second-ranked & top-seeded Amélie Mauresmo in the final 6-3, 7-5. The victory took her back up to No. 7, equalling the career high she achieved back in 2004. She followed it up with a quarter-final showing at the Miami Masters, losing to Mauresmo 6-3, 6-1.
In Amelia Island, Petrova began her unstoppable run that would take her to three titles, winning fifteen straight matches. Here at the Bausch & Lomb Championships, she defeated Francesca Schiavone in the final 6-4, 6-4 to pick up her third title in the past six months. One week later, she won her second straight title & fourth overall at the Family Circle Cup, beating Alona Bondarenko, Lucie Safarova, Catalina Castano, Anna-Lena Grönefeld & capping it off with a victory over Patty Schnyder 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. It was her first ever Tier I title win & caused her ranking to hit the world's top five for the first time, at No. 4. She next entered the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, winning both her third title & second Tier I in a row. It was her fifth title overall. In the final, she defeated Justine Henin 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. With this win, she ascended to her career high of No. 3 in the World. Her clay court winning streak put her as a firm favourite for the 2006 French Open title.
However, on May 30, 2006, Petrova was defeated in the first round of the French Open by Akiko Morigami 6-2, 6-2. This was considered a major upset that may have been caused by an ankle injury Petrova suffered during training shortly before the tournament. She then withdrew from Wimbledon & did not win a match in the U.S. Open Series, going 0-3. At the 2006 U.S. Open, Petrova was upset in the third round by the 27th seeded Tatiana Golovin. She reached the quarter-finals at Beijing, losing to Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
At the Tier II tournament in Stuttgart, Petrova won her first tournament title since the Tier I German Open in May 2006. She beat Anna-Lena Grönefeld, Daniela Hantuchova & Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in a thrilling semi-final match, & then beat Tatiana Golovin 6-3, 7-6 in the final. The win resulted in her ranking rising back into the top five. Petrova then continued her return to form by reaching the final of the Kremlin Cup, a Tier I tournament in Moscow, by defeating Czech Nicole Vaidisova 6-0, 4-6, 7-6(3). In the final, Petrova was beaten by another Russian, Anna Chakvetadze 6-4, 6-4.
After a week off to recover from minor injuries, Petrova played in the Tier II tournament in Linz where she was the defending champion. As the second seed, Petrova dropped just nine games in her three matches to reach the final. Petrova received a bye into the second round where she defeated Israel's Shahar Peer 6-1, 6-1. Petrova then defeated Samantha Stosur 6-1, 6-3 & fourth seeded Nicole Vaidisova 6-1, 6-2, before losing to top seeded Maria Sharapova 7-5, 6-2 in the final.
At the WTA Tour Championships in Madrid in November 2006, Petrova lost two of her three round robin matches & failed to advance to the semifinals. Her lone victory was over top ranked Amélie Mauresmo 6-2, 6-2. This was her second victory over a reigning World No.1. She finished the year at No. 6, her best year-end ranking thus far.
2007
Petrova
began the year by teaming with Dmitry Tursunov to represent Russia as the top
seeds in the Hopman Cup, an exhibition in Perth, Australia that ran from December
30, 2006, through January 5, 2007. Russia won the cup, defeating Spain in the
final three matches to none.
At the Australian Open, Petrova lost only eight games in her first two matches but was defeated in the third round by Serena Williams 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
At the Open Gaz de France in Paris, Petrova picked up her seventh tour title with victories over Amélie Mauresmo (her third victory over Mauresmo in four meetings) in the semifinals & Czech Lucie Safarova in the final. She then reached the quarterfinals of the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp, where she lost to Anna Chakvetadze 6-3, 6-4.
Her next tournament was the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, where she retired in her fourth round match against Tatiana Golovin.
Petrova reached the quarterfinals at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, losing to Justine Henin. Petrova then reached the final at Amelia Island, but failed to defend her title, losing to Tatiana Golovin 6-2, 6-1.
She played the Fed Cup for Russia, beating Anabel Medina Garrigues in her only singles match 6-3, 6-4 in Russia's 5-0 win over Spain.
Petrova began her red clay court season at the J&S Cup in Warsaw, Poland as the fifth-seeded player. In the second round, she was upset by Italian player Mara Santangelo 6-3, 6-3.
At the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, Petrova was the defending champion. She lost, however, in the quarterfinals to Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6(5) 6-4. This loss pushed Petrova out of the top 10.
Petrova then played in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome as the fifth seed, where she retired in her third round match with Elena Dementieva while trailing 4-3.
She was the eleventh-seeded player at the French Open & was the first big upset of the tournament when she lost to Kveta Peschke 7-5, 5-7, 6-0. After the loss, she claimed that the low back pain which had forced her to retire from her match in Rome was still bothering her. It was her second consecutive first round loss at the French Open because of injury.
Petrova kicked off her grasscourt season at the Tier II event held at Eastbourne. She was the third seeded player at the event, & lived up to her seeding by advancing to the semifinals. After a first round bye, she beat Nathalie Dechy 7-5, 7-5 & Sybille Bammer 6-76, 7-5, 6-4. However, she retired in her semifinal match against second-seeded Amelie Mauresmo after losing the first set 6-4. Her success at this tournament consolidated her return to the top ten.
Doubles
Petrova has
also had success in doubles, reaching a career high of No. 3 in the doubles rankings.
She has twelve doubles titles, eight of them with Meghann Shaughnessy including
the prestigious year-ending WTA Tour Championships in 2004, where they beat Cara
Black & Rennae Stubbs in the final 7-5, 6-2. She also has victories at the
Tier I events in Moscow, Miami, Berlin, Rome & Montreal, with all but the
Montreal title being with Meghann Shaughnessy & the aforementioned other one
being with Martina Navratilova.
Controversy
Before her match with Serena
Williams at the 2007 Australian Open, Petrova said, "Both Serena & Venus
had lots of injuries & they are not in the best shape of their life. It looks
like everything is leading to the end of their career because they are quite busy;
they have talk shows, books, & clothing lines. It looks like they are focused
on other things & they have already done their job on court. It looks like
they are finishing playing tennis. The motivation probably isn't there."
Serena won the match 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 & eventually the tournament.
When asked
why she had a losing head-to-head against Tatiana Golovin, Petrova said that Golovin
probably only beat her in the past "because of luck." As Eurosport UK
commented, Petrova seemed unsure as to why she could not defeat the "most
Russian of French players." Golovin defeated Petrova in the 2007 Amelia Island
final, improving her win-loss record against Petrova to 5-1.
This site was written in June 2007
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