Nadia Petrova

Nadia Petrova
Надежда Петрова

Country	Russia
Residence	Miami, USA
Born	June 8, 1982 (1982-06-08) (age 29) Moscow, Soviet Union
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Turned pro	September 6, 1999
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	$9,735,355
Singles
Career record	479–263
Career titles	10 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 3 (May 15, 2006)
Current ranking	No. 29 (November 7, 2011)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	QF (2006, 2010)
French Open	SF (2003, 2005)
Wimbledon	QF (2005, 2008)
US Open	QF (2004, 2005)
Other tournaments
Championships	RR (2005, 2006, 2008)
Olympic Games	2R (2004)
Doubles
Career record	299–144
Career titles	19 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 3 (March 21, 2005)
Current ranking	No. 13 (October 10, 2011)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	SF (2011)
French Open	SF (2005)
Wimbledon	QF (2004, 2005, 2007)
US Open	F (2010)
Other Doubles tournaments
WTA Championships	W (2004)
Last updated on: October 10, 2011.

Nadezhda Viktorovna Petrova (Надежда Викторовна Петрова; born June 8, 1982 in Moscow, Soviet Union) is a Russian professional tennis player.

Overall, she has won 28 WTA Titles, ten in singles and eighteen in doubles. In singles, Petrova has reached a career high ranking of World No. 3 in May 2006 and has reached the semi-finals of the French Open in 2003 and 2005. In doubles, she won the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in 2004 with Meghann Shaughnessy. As of 10 October 2011 (2011 -10-10)^[update], Petrova is ranked World No. 33 in singles and World No. 13 in doubles.

Biography

Early life

Petrova was born in Moscow. Her parents were both very athletic – her father Viktor was a leading hammer thrower, while her mother Nadezhda Ilyina 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 and her parents. Petrova states hard courts as her favourite surface, however, she has been most successful on clay courts. She is currently coached by Vladimir Platenik

Playing Style

Petrova is an all-court aggressive player who is capable of hitting winners off both wings, but particularly off her back-hand and which she is capable of hitting flat and with slice. Petrova's serve is considered her biggest asset. In 2009 she hit the second most aces on the tour with 306, just behind Serena Williams and won over 72% of her service games. As an accomplished doubles player, Petrova's volleying skills are considered exceptional and she is not afraid to come into the net to finish off points. Petrova's main weakness is her movement around the court as she is often slow to retrieve balls and can sometimes struggle to defend well during rallies. Also, her forehand is sometimes erratic and can produce many unforced errors. Petrova states hard courts as her preferred surface, however, she has been most successful on clay courts where she can dictate play easier.

Career

Early career

As a junior, Petrova won the 1998 French Open, beating Jelena Dokić in the final.^[1] The same year she finished runner-up at the Orange Bowl to Elena Dementieva and 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 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 and the quarterfinals of the Ericsson Open, beating Julie Halard-Decugis for her first top ten win before losing to Lindsay Davenport. She finished the season at No. 50. She reached the fourth round of both French Open and the US Open in 2001 and her ranking hit a high of No. 38 during the season. However, her 2002 season was marred by injuries causing her ranking to drop out of the top 100.

2003–2004: First Grand Slam Semi-Final and Top 10 Ranking

At the 2003 Australian Open, Petrova defeated Gréta Arn 6–2, 6–1 and then defeated 21st seed Ai Sugiyama 6–4, 6–4 in the second round. Petrova then lost in three sets to World No. 15 Patty Schnyder 6–2, 4–6, 6–3 in the third round.

Petrova was ranked World No. 76 going into the 2003 French Open. In the first round she beat the three-time champion and World No. 12 Monica Seles 6–4, 6–0. She then defeated Silvija Talaja 6–1, 6–1 and Marissa Irvin 6–1, 6–1 to reach the fourth round. Here, Petrova stunned 7th seed Jennifer Capriati 6–3, 4–6, 6–3. In the quarter-finals, Petrova won again in three sets over 21st seed Vera Zvonareva 6–1, 4–6, 6–3 to reach her first ever Grand Slam Semi-Final. Petrova faced World No. 2 Kim Clijsters and despite having a set point in the first set, Petrova was beaton in straight sets 7–5, 6–1. Despite this, Petrova's ranking increased to World No. 30.

Petrova reached the semi-finals of S'Hertogenbosch, defeating Elena Dementieva en-route but lost to World No. 3 Justine Henin in three sets. At the 2003 Wimbledon Championships, Petrova was seeded 29th and made it to the third round before losing to Venus Williams 6–1, 6–2.

Petrova was seeded 19th at the 2003 US Open and defeated 14th seed Amanda Coetzer 6–0, 6–1 in the third round. In the fourth round, Petrova lost to 3rd seed Lindsay Davenport 6–0, 6–7(6), 6–2. Petrova continued her success by reaching the semi-finals of Zurich, beating World No. 8 and US Open finalist before losing to Henin 6–4, 6–4.

The following week in Linz, Petrova beat Paola Suárez and Patty Schnyder to reach her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final. However she fell to Ai Sugiyama 7–5, 6–4.

Petrova ended 2003 ranked World No. 12 with a 45–23 singles record.

Petrova reached her second WTA final at Gold Coast, losing once again to Ai Sugiyama 1–6, 6–1, 6–4. She was upset in the first round of the Australian Open to Anikó Kapros, losing 6–3, 6–3.

In March 2004, she hit the top ten at No. 9 after reaching the semifinals of the Tier 1 NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami. She reached the semifinals at the Bausch & Lomb Championships, beating second-seeded Serena Williams before losing to Lindsay Davenport. After this, her ranking elevated to a career high of No. 7. However, she failed to defend her semifinal points from the 2003 French Open, losing to Marlene Weingärtner in the third round 6–3, 6–2.

At the US Open, she pulled off the biggest win of her career by defeating World No. 1 and defending champion Justine Henin 6–3, 6–2 in the fourth round. It was Petrova's first victory over a world No. 1. She lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 7–6, 6–3.

Petrova reached the semi-finals of Linz, losing to Elena Bovina in three sets. She also reached the semi-finals of Philadelphia, losing to Vera Zvonareva.

Petrova finished the year ranked World No. 12 with a 40–25 singles record.

2005: First Career Title and Top 10 Finish

Petrova reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, losing to the eventual champion Serena Williams, 6–1, 3–6, 6–3. She reached her third career final at the Qatar Total German Open in May, beating Mary Pierce, Amélie Mauresmo and Jelena Janković, before losing to Justine Henin. Her ranking rose to No. 9, where she stayed for the next two years before dropping out in May 2007.

At the French Open, Petrova reached her second Grand Slam Semi-Final but lost to Henin 6–2, 6–3, but her ranking rose one place to No. 8. A few weeks later at Wimbledon, she reached the quarterfinals before losing to Maria Sharapova 7–6, 6–3. After Wimbledon, she reached five straight quarterfinals at Los Angeles, Toronto, the US Open, Luxembourg, and Filderstadt.

Petrova finally won her first title at the Generali Ladies Linz held in Linz, Austria. She beat Patty Schnyder in the final.

Her successful season meant she qualified for the Sony Ericsson Championships in Los Angeles. She ended 2005 ranked World No. 9, her first top ten finish.

2006: Top 3 Ranking

At the Australian Open, Petrova was seeded 6th and defeated Sophie Ferguson, Martina Müller, Maria Elena Camerin and Elena Vesnina on her way to her first quarterfinal at the Australian Open. She lost to fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova 7–6(4), 6–4 in the quarterfinals.

At the Qatar Total Open held in Doha, Petrova picked up her first title of the year and second overall by beating second-ranked and top-seeded Amélie Mauresmo 6–3, 7–5 in the final. The victory took her ranking to No. 7. She followed it with a quarterfinal showing at the NASDAQ-100 Open, losing to Mauresmo 6–3, 6–1.

Petrova then began her run that would take her to three titles, winning fifteen straight matches. At the Bausch & Lomb Championships, she defeated Francesca Schiavone in the final to pick up her third title in the past six months. One week later, she won her second straight title and fourth overall at the Family Circle Cup with a victory over Patty Schnyder.^[2]

She next entered the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, defeating Justine Henin.^[3] With this win, she ascended to her career high of No. 3.

However, Petrova was defeated in the first round of the French Open by Akiko Morigami 6–2, 6–2. This may have been caused by an ankle injury Petrova suffered during training before the tournament. She then withdrew from Wimbledon and did not win a match in the U.S. Open Series, going 0–3. At the US Open, Petrova was upset in the third round by Tatiana Golovin.

At the Stuttgart, Petrova won her first tournament title since the Tier I Qatar Telecom German Open in May 2006. She then continued her return to form by reaching the final of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, losing to Russian Anna Chakvetadze.

At the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid in November 2006. Her lone victory was over top-ranked Amélie Mauresmo 6–2, 6–2. She finished the year at No. 6.

2007

At the Australian Open, she reached the third round before falling to Serena Williams, the eventual champion, after holding a 5–3 second set lead.

Nadia Petrova at the 2007 Australian Open.

At the Open Gaz de France in Paris, Petrova picked up her seventh tour title and first of the season by beating Lucie Šafářová. Petrova reached the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, losing to Justine Henin. Petrova then reached the final in Amelia Island, losing to Tatiana Golovin.

She was the eleventh-seeded player at the French Open but lost to Květa Peschke 7–5, 5–7, 6–0. After the loss, she claimed that the low back pain had been bothering her. It was her second consecutive first round loss at the French Open because of injury.

At Wimbledon, Petrova lost to Ana Ivanović 6–1, 2–6, 6–4 in the fourth round.

In the 2007 Fed Cup tie against the USA on July 14/15, Petrova played a pivotal role in securing the victory for her team. While losing on the first day against Venus Williams, she won her singles match against Meilen Tu on the second day and then teamed with Elena Vesnina to beat Williams and Lisa Raymond in the decisive doubles rubber.^[4]

At the JPMorgan Chase Open, Petrova reached her third final of the year, losing to Ana Ivanović in straight sets.

At the US Open, Petrova was seeded seventh but lost to Ágnes Szávay 6–4, 6–4. The loss meant that she had not gone past the fourth round of any Grand Slam tournament all year, the first time since 2002.

She finished 2007 ranked No. 14, her lowest year-end ranking in five years.

2008

Petrova started her 2008 season on a two-match losing streak going into the Australian Open, losing in the first round in Gold Coast as the number 2 seed to Tathiana Garbin 5–7, 7–5, 6–3 and in Sydney 7–5, 6–3 to Sybille Bammer. She still managed to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open though as the 14th seed with wins over Nicole Pratt, Anne Kremer and Ekaterina Makarova all in straight sets.. There she played Agnieszka Radwańska of Poland, who beat her 1–6, 7–5, 6–0. Petrova held a 6–1, 3–0 lead and looked on form for an easy victory. In the third set, she won just four points.

At the Open Gaz de France in Paris, Petrova was the defending champion and seeded 5th but lost in the first round to Kateryna Bondarenko 7–6(4), 3–6, 6–4. Petrova retired in her first–round match at the 2008 Qatar Total Open against Anabel Medina Garrigues due to an upset stomach while trailing 2–6, 2–1. At Dubai, she lost 6–4, 6–4 to Katarina Srebotnik.

Petrova's injuries continued to strike at her when she was forced to retire in the second round of Miami with a right quad strain while trailing 2–1 in the first set against Zheng Jie.

At the 2008 German Open in Berlin, Petrova returned to action as the 16th seed and defeated Katarina Srebotnik 7–6(5), 3–6, 7–6(2) in the first round before losing in the second round to Maria Kirilenko 6–3, 6–3. Petrova was once again defeated by Kirilenko in the first round of Rome, but this time in three sets, 3–6, 7–5, 6–4. At her final warm-up tournament in Istanbul, Nadia was seeded third and got past Lilia Osterloh 6–1, 6–2 in the first round and Marta Domachowska 6–2, 6–2 in the second round. She lost to Akgul Amanmuradova 7–6(0), 1–6, 6–4 in the quarter-finals.

Petrova won the 2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open beating Natalie Dechy in the final.

These losses put Petrova in poor stead going into the French Open. As the twenty-fifth seed, she beat Aravane Rezaï and Alisa Kleybanova in straight sets before being thrashed by Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–2, 6–1.

Petrova's grass season began at Eastbourne, where she reached her first final of the year showing good form. She was beaten in a close match by Pole Agnieszka Radwańska 6–4, 6–7(11), 6–4.

At Wimbledon, Petrova was the number 21 seed and was on the right track after wins over Olga Govortsova 6–4, 6–4 and Mara Santangelo 6–4, 7–5. Petrova then pulled off an excellent win over the in-form teenager and 16th seed Victoria Azarenka 7–6(11), 7–6(4) in the third round. In the fourth round she faced unseeded Alla Kudrayatseva who just came off a win over 3rd seed Maria Sharapova; Petrova won 6–1, 6–4 to reach her second quarterfinal at Wimbledon. This was also the first time that Petrova had reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2006 Australian Open. She lost a cracker two and a half hour marathon match against the fifth seed Elena Dementieva 6–1, 6–7(6), 6–3. Petrova rallied from 6–1, 5–2 down and saved match points throughout the second set but eventually lost the match in the third set. Her ranking improved to World No. 17 after the tournament.

Bouncing back from a first-round defeat at Stanford to Dominika Cibulková, Petrova reached the quarterfinals at Los Angeles, defeating 5th seed Vera Zvonareva 6–4, 7–5 en route before losing to Jelena Janković 7–5, 6–4. At Montreal, she again suffered a surprise defeat to Cibulková in the third round, this time losing 7–6(2), 6–2.

Nadia then played in Cincinnati, as she did not gain entry into the Olympics because she was not in the top four ranked Russian players at the time. After easy wins over Galina Voskoboeva, Julie Ditty and Lilia Osterloh, Petrova once again found herself up against Maria Kirilenko for a place in the final. This time though, Petrova was victorious, coming back from a set down to win 1–6, 6–2, 6–1. Petrova then thrashed Nathalie Dechy 6–2, 6–1 in the final to win her first title of the year and the eighth of her career.

Nadia Petrova at the 2008 U.S. Open

Petrova was in good form heading into the final Grand Slam Tournament of the year at the US Open. Petrova was seeded 19th and beat Olivia Sanchez 6–2, 6–4 in the first round and Hsieh Su-wei 6–4, 6–2 in round two. Petrova was ousted 4–6, 6–4, 6–3 by the 16th seed Flavia Pennetta in the third round.

Petrova bounced back to good form at the 2008 Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic. Seeded 4th, Nadia defeated fifth seed Francesca Schiavone 6–4, 6–3 in the quarter-finals but she lost in the semi-finals to second seed and eventual champion Patty Schnyder 7–5, 6–1.

At the 2008 Toray Pan Pacific Open, Petrova was unseeded but beat two top–ten players, Ana Ivanović, the second seed 6–1, 1–6, 6–2 in the second round and Agnieszka Radwańska 6–3, 6–0 to reach the semifinals, where she lost 6–1, 6–0 to Dinara Safina, the eventual champion. At Stuttgart, she reached her third final of the season, after an impressive run, beating Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, Patty Schnyder, Li Na and Victoria Azarenka in straight sets but failed to win the title, this time losing to Jelena Janković, the World No. 2 6–4, 6–3. Despite not winning the title, Petrova's ranking moved back into the top 15 to World No. 14 as a result of reaching the final.

Petrova was a quarter-finalist at her home event, the 2008 Kremlin Cup in Moscow, beating teenager Caroline Wozniacki before losing to compatriot and third seed Elena Dementieva 6–4, 4–6, 7–6(6). She was also a quarter–finalist at the Linz, losing 6–3, 6–2 to Radwańska.

At her final tournament of the season in Quebec City, she won her second title of the year beating lucky loser Angela Haynes 6–3, 6–1 in the semifinals and Bethanie Mattek-Sands 4–6, 6–4, 6–1 in the final. This title also secured her status as the second alternate for the WTA Tour Championships should a player withdraw. This scenario did indeed happen, and Petrova came in replacing Serena Williams. She lost her only match to Dementieva 6–4, 4–6, 6–4.

Petrova finished the 2008 season ranked World No. 11.

2009

Petrova started 2009 playing at the 2009 Medibank International Sydney where she was seeded seventh. She lost in the first round to Alizé Cornet 6–2, 6–4. Petrova was seeded tenth at the Australian Open in Melbourne. She lost to seventh–seeded Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round 7–5, 6–4. However, this caused her ranking to move back into the top ten for the first time since early 2007 to World No. 10. She later reached World No. 9.

Petrova did not play in the Indian Wells, a Premier Mandatory event due to injury. In Miami Nadia entered as the no. 9 seed, but lost to world no. 54 Ekaterina Makarova in the third round, 7–5, 6–1.

Petrova next headed to Ponte Vedra Beach as the top seed where she defeated Olga Govortsova, Madison Keys (who had just won her first ever main draw match) and Alona Bondarenko. She fell in the semi final to eventual finalist Aleksandra Wozniak, 6–4, 4–6, 6–2. Petrova fell in the second round at Charleston to Melinda Czink in three sets 3–6, 6–4, 7–5. At the 2009 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgard, Petrova was seeded sixth but lost in the second round to Flavia Pennetta 6–2, 6–2. She next went to the Rome Masters as the number eight seed where she had a first round bye before defeating giant killer Carla Suárez Navarro. In the third round Petrova was ousted by María José Martínez Sánchez 6–4, 6–7 ⁽⁵⁾ 6–4.

Nadia Petrova at the 2009 French Open.

Petrova was seeded eleventh at the 2009 French Open in Paris where she reached the semi-finals in 2003 and 2005. She defeated Lauren Embree in the first round 6–1, 6–2. She lost in the second round to world no. 102 Maria Sharapova by 6–2, 1–6, 8–6.

At the 2009 AEGON International, Petrova was seeded seventh and defeated Ana Ivanović in the first round in three sets 6–1, 4–6, 6–4 where she came back from a double break down in the final set to win. However, she was defeated in the second round by fellow Russian Vera Dushevina 7–5, 0–1 where she was forced to retire due to a lower back injury after taking the first set.

Petrova's next tournament was Wimbledon, the third grand slam of the year where she was the tenth seed. She beat Anastasiya Yakimova in the first round 6–1. 6–1. Petrova won her second round match against Shahar Pe'er 6–3, 6–2. She then came from a set down to beat Gisela Dulko 3–6, 6–3, 6–4. Petrova lost to #8 Victoria Azarenka, in three sets, in the fourth round.

Petrova began her 2009 US Open Series campaign at Stanford where she was seeded 5th. After defeating her doubles partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands in three sets in the first round, Petrova lost again to Sharapova 6–1, 6–2 in just over an hour. In Los Angeles, she was also seeded 5th but lost to 10th seed Flavia Pennetta 6–3, 6–3 in the third round. Petrova then headed to Cincinnati where she was the defending champion and the tenth seed. She was unable to defend her title, losing in the first round to Alona Bondarenko 6–2, 6–3. This caused her ranking to slip out of the top ten to World No.12. Petrova next played in Toronto as the tenth seed where her poor form continued as she fell again to Maria Sharapova in the first round. Continuing her campaign on the 2009 US Open Series, she then received a wildcard as the 4th seed at the New Haven but again lost to compatriot Anna Chakvetadze in the first round.

Nadia Petrova at the 2009 US Open.

Her next tournament was the final Grandslam of the year, the 2009 US Open. Petrova was the thirteenth seed and defeated Katarina Srebotnik and Julie Coin in the first and second round in straight sets. Petrova then got past World No. 22 Zheng Jie, 6–4, 6–1. Petrova was defeated in the fourth round by unseeded American Melanie Oudin 1–6, 7–6(2), 6–3. However, her ranking improved one spot higher to World No. 12.

Petrova then headed to Quebec to defend her title at the 2009 Bell Challenge. Petrova was the top seed and advanced to the quarterfinals with wins over Carly Gullickson and Madison Brengle in straight sets. Here, Petrova faced 5th seed Melinda Czink and was a set down when she was forced to retire due to a viral illness. Czink would go on to win the title. However, Nadia quickly returned to action in Tokyo as the number 13 seed but continued a dismal season, losing in the second round to Magdaléna Rybáriková 6–2, 6–2. She slipped to World No. 17 as a result of this bad form.

Nadia then participated at China Open, a Premier Mandatory tournament, where she was the thirteenth seed. She beat her compatriot Alla Kudryavtseva 6–1, 5–7, 6–2 in the first round and World No. 24 Daniela Hantuchová 6–1, 2–6, 7–5 in the second round. She played one of her best matches in 2009 by beating Serena Williams in a thriller three sets match, by 6–4, 3–6, 7–6(5), in the third round despite the fact that Williams was just about to snitch back the World No. 1 ranking from Dinara Safina the following week due to the Russian's second round loss. Petrova then survived another three setter against Peng Shuai (who earlier beat Jelena Janković and Maria Sharapova) in the quarterfinals. This was only Petrova's second semi-final of the year but she lost to the reigning French Open Champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, by 6–1, 6–3.

Petrova then competed at Kremlin Cup as the fifth seed. She defeated Yana Buchina 6–2, 6–0 in the first round but fell to Alona Bondarenko in the second round.

Petrova finished her poor year with a 30–21 singles record and she finished the year ranked World No. 20. It was by far her worst year on tour as she captured no titles for the first time since 2004. Her highlights of the year are reaching the semi-finals in Ponte Vedra Beach and Beijing and reaching the quarterfinals in Quebec City.

2010

Petrova's started her year at the Brisbane International in Australia. After drawing comeback queen Justine Henin as the number two seed, Petrova lost in a close 5–7, 5–7 match. She then competed in the Medibank International Sydney but lost again in the opening round to 39 year-old Kimiko Date Krumm 3–6, 7–5, 4–6.

Seeded 19th at the 2010 Australian Open, Petrova reached the third round by defeating Edina Gallovits 6–3, 6–4 and Kaia Kanepi 6–4, 6–4. In the third round, Petrova caused a huge upset as she crushed the 15th seed Kim Clijsters in a 52-minute onslaught, winning 6–0, 6–1. Clijsters was the bookmaker's second favourite to win the tournament. She followed that with another upset in the 4th round over 3rd seed Svetlana Kuznetsova with a score of 6–3, 3–6, 6–1. This was the second time in Petrova's career that she had reached the Quarterfinals at the Australian Open. She fell to former World No. 1 Justine Henin 6–7, 5–7 in a tight match after leading 3–0 in the second set.

After a first round defeat to Stefanie Vögele in Dubai, Petrova next competed at the Premier Mandatory events in Indian Wells and Miami. At the 2010 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Petrova was seeded 16th. After receiving a bye to the second round, she dispatched Patty Schnyder 6–3,5–7,6–4, and then Shuai Peng 6–1, 7–5, before losing in the fourth round to second seed Caroline Wozniacki 6–3, 3–6, 6–0. At the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Petrova was again seeded 16th but fell in the third round to 19th seed Daniela Hantuchová 6–2, 6–4.

Petrova began her clay court season in Charleston and won her first two matches in straight sets against Vania King and Aleksandra Wozniak before losing to Wozniacki in the quarter-finals.

On European clay, Petrova was seeded 14th at the Italian Open. She advanced to the quarter-finals by defeating Tathiana Garbin, Katarina Srebotnik and Alexandra Dulgheru but lost here to World No. 58 Ana Ivanović 6–2, 7–5. Petrova was seeded 16th at the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open. where she beat Elena Vesnina 4–6, 6–2, 6–3 and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6–2, 7–5 to advance to the third round. Here, Petrova had a fantastic win as she upset World No. 1 Serena Williams 4–6, 6–2, 6–3. However she fell to World No. 30 Lucie Šafářová in the quarter-finals.

Petrova was seeded 19th at the 2010 French Open. She defeated Zhang Shuai 6–0, 6–3 in the first round and the talented Ágnes Szávay 6–1, 6–2 in the second round. In the third round, Petrova fell a set behind against the in-form 15th seed and recent Madrid champion Aravane Rezaï before coming back to take the second set. In the third set, Petrova saved three match points as Rezaï served for the match at 5–4 before Petrova came back to serve for the match herself at 7–6 where she too held three match points. Rezaï, however, broke back and the match was abandoned due to bad light. The match was completed the following day where Petrova eventually won, causing the upset 6–7(2), 6–4, 10–8. She continued her success in the fourth round where she stunned the World No. 2 Venus Williams 6–4, 6–3. Petrova led by a set in the quarter-final against fifth seed Elena Dementieva but required treatment twice by the trainer during the match and limped to the finish line with Dementieva winning 2–6, 6–2, 6–0. Despite this loss, Petrova's quarter-final run caused her ranking to increase to World No. 13.

Beginning the grass court season in Eastbourne, Petrova was unseeded and came back from a set down to win on a final set tie-break to beat Karolina Šprem in the first round. In the second round, Petrova was heavily defeated 6–2, 6–0 by eventual champion Ekaterina Makarova. Petrova was seeded 12th at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. She defeated Tatjana Malek 6–4, 6–3 in the first round and Yung-Jan Chan 6–3, 6–4 in the second. Petrova then fell to 17th seed Justine Henin in the third round, 6–1 6–4. This caused her ranking to slip to World No. 19.

Petrova next played at the 2010 Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego in her first event of the 2010 US Open Series. Unseeded, she was defeated in three sets in the first round to World No. 32 Yaroslava Shvedova 5–7, 6–4, 6–1. Petrova was seeded 15th at the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati but was forced to retire due to heat stress while trailing 7–6(4), 5–3 to Christina McHale.

Petrova was seeded 18th at the 2010 Rogers Cup in Montreal and won a tough opener against Lucie Šafářová, 7–5, 4–6, 6–3. In the second round, Petrova faced former World No. 1 Dinara Safina and despite serving 15 aces, she was defeated 7–5, 4–6, 6–4. Petrova is currently playing in her final event of the US Open Series in New Havan at the 2010 Pilot Pen Tennis where she received a wild-card to play as the 8th seed. In the first round she came from a set down to beat Varvara Lepchenko 1–6, 7–5, 6–1. She then defeated her former doubles partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6–3, 6–2 to advance to the quarter-finals and then had an impressive 6–2, 6–1 victory over 2nd seed Samantha Stosur for her fourth top ten win of the season. She defeated Maria Kirilenko 2–6 6–2 6–2 in her semi-final match, but was beaten by Caroline Wozniacki in the final 6–3, 3–6, 6–3.

Petrova was seeded 17th at the 2010 US Open, the final Grand Slam of the year. Despite her recent final appearance in New Havan, Petrova suffered a shock first round defeat in the hands of a tough opponent in World No. 38 Andrea Petkovic 2–6, 6–4, 6–7(4). However, partnering with Liezel Huber, she had her best run in a grandslam by reaching the final where they faced Yaroslava Shvedova and Vania King. Despite having a championship point, they eventually lost by 2–6, 6–4, 7–6(4) in the final, after the match got postponed due to rain.

Petrova bounced back in singles at the 2010 Hansol Korea Open in Seoul. As the top seed, Petrova's first round opponent, was the World No. 41 Jarmila Groth who had captured her first WTA title the previous week in Guangzhou. However, Petrova came through comfortably 6–3, 6–2. She then defeated Vania King 6–3, 6–4 to advance to the quarter-finals where she thrashed Belgian Kirsten Flipkens 6–2, 6–1. She then fell to Klára Zakopalová.

Petrova was the 15th seed at the 2010 Toray Pan Pacific Open, but fell to Roberta Vinci in the first round. Nadia ended her cooperation with her coach Vladimir Platenik. She finished the 2010 season ranked World No. 15.

2011

As the 3rd seed, Petrova fell to Petra Kvitová 7–6(3) 6–3 in the first round of the 2011 Brisbane International. She also fell in the first round of the 2011 Medibank International Sydney, this time to Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová 6–2 6–2. At the Australian Open, Petrova defeated Ksenia Pervak of Russia 6–2 6–1. In the second round, she faced wildcard Alicia Molik 6–4 6–1. Her third round match against Ekaterina Makarova resulted in a tough three setter where she lost 2–6 6–3 8–6. For the 2011 French Open Petrova was seeded 26th, and lost in the first round 6–7 (5–7), 6–3, 6–4, to Anastasia Rodionova of Australia.^[5] Petrova then reached the 4th round of the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, falling to Victoria Azarenka. Following Wimbledon, Petrova won the inaugural 2011 Citi Open, beating Shahar Pe'er for her first title since 2008 . at cincinnati she lost to Andrea Petkovic 7–5, 6–1 in the quarters.

Doubles

Petrova has also had success in doubles, reaching a career high of No. 3 in the doubles rankings. She has eighteen doubles titles, eight of them with Meghann Shaughnessy including the prestigious year-ending WTA Tour Championships in 2004, where they beat Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs in the final. She also has victories at the Tier I events in Moscow, Key Biscayne, Berlin, Rome, and Montreal, with all but the Montreal title being with Meghann Shaughnessy and the aforementioned other one being with Martina Navrátilová. In 2002 and 2003, she also reached the finals of three Tier I events with Jelena Dokić. In 2010, Petrova is partnered with a top 10 doubles player Samantha Stosur and Liezel Huber. In 2011, Petrova partnered with Liezel Huber and Anastasia Rodionova.

Performance timelines

Singles

To help interpret the performance table, the legend below explains what each abbreviation and color coded box represents in the performance timeline.

Terms to know
SR	tournaments won/played	W-L	Win-Loss
Performance Table Legend
NH	not held	A	absent
LQ	lost in qualifying draw	#R	lost in the early rounds
QF	quarterfinalist	SF	semifinalist
F	runner-up	W	winner

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the conclusion of the 2010 French Open.

Tournament	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	Career Win-Loss
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	1R	3R	2R	A	3R	1R	4R	QF	3R	4R	4R	QF	3R	26–12
French Open	A	A	A	LQ	1R	4R	A	SF	3R	SF	1R	1R	3R	2R	QF	1R	22–11
Wimbledon	A	A	A	2R	2R	4R	A	3R	4R	QF	A	4R	QF	4R	3R	4R	29–11
US Open	A	A	LQ	LQ	2R	2R	1R	4R	QF	QF	3R	3R	3R	4R	1R	3R	24–12
Win-Loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–2	4–4	8–4	0–1	12–4	9–4	16–4	6–3	7–4	11–4	10–4	10–4	5–3	99–45

Career statistics

Main article: Nadia Petrova career statistics

References

1. ^ Smith, Doug (8 June 1998). "Gimelstob-V. Williams halfway to grand slam". USA Today (McLean, Virginia: Gannett Company): p. 11C. 
2. ^ Petrova captures Charleston title
3. ^ Petrova beats Henin-Hardenne to win German Open
4. ^ Russia to host Fed Cup final
5. ^ Tan, Gillian (24 May 2011). "Rodionova downs Russian". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). http://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/rodionova-downs-russian-20110523-1f0l4.html. Retrieved 28 May 2011. 

External links

• Official website
• Nadia Petrova Fanpage
• Nadia Petrova at the Women's Tennis Association
• Nadia Petrova at the International Tennis Federation
• Nadia Petrova at the Fed Cup

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Daniela Hantuchová	WTA Most Improved Player of the Year 2004	Succeeded by Maria Sharapova

Top ten tennis players

Persondata
Name	Petrova, Nadia
Alternative names
Short description	Tennis player
Date of birth	June 8, 1982
Place of birth	Moscow, Soviet Union
Date of death
Place of death