Evgeniya Rodina

Infobox Tennis biography
playername = Evgeniya Rodina


country = RUS
residence = Moscow, Russia
datebirth = birth date and age|1989|2|4
placebirth = Moscow, Soviet Union
now Russia
height = height|m=1.64
weight = kg to lb|51.9|abbr=yes
turnedpro =
plays = Right-handed; two-handed backhand
careerprizemoney = US$120,017
singlesrecord = 110–60
singlestitles = WTA: 0, ITF: 4
highestsinglesranking = 87 (July 7, 2008)
AustralianOpenresult = -
FrenchOpenresult = 1R (2008)
Wimbledonresult = 3R (2008)
USOpenresult = 1R (2008)
doublesrecord = 59–28
doublestitles = WTA: 0, ITF: 5
highestdoublesranking = 133 (March 3, 2008)
updated = May 28, 2008

Evgeniya Sergeyevna Rodina (Russian: Евгения Сергеевна Родина, born 4 February, 1989) is a Russian professional tennis player who was born on February 4th, 1989. She achieved her career-high ranking of #87 on July 7, 2008.

Career Summary

Rodina has made strong progress up through the world rankings to reach a career high of World No. 120 by the end of 2007, and has won four career ITF singles titles to date, of which one has been at $50,000 level and the other three all at $25,000.

2004-5

Rodina began her career on the ITF circuit with the assistance of a wildcard into the first round of the main draw of a $25,000 tournament at Moscow in late August 2004, when she was just fifteen and a half years old, and justified the award by taking a set from upcoming fellow-Russian star Elena Vesnina though she lost the match in three.

Further wildcards into two successive $10,000 events at Dubrovnik, Croatia that October gave her the opportunity to win her first and second main-draw ITF matches without ever having had to qualify for an ITF event, though she lost in the second round on both occasions.

These two results were sufficient to put her onto the tail end of the rankings board at World No. 1138 by the end of the year.

After taking a six month break from competition, she was granted a further wildcard directly into the main draw of a $10,000 event at Cavtat, Croatia in late April, 2005, a couple of months after her sixteenth birthday, and this time won two rounds before losing in the quarter-finals.

At the end of that same week, she at last entered a $10,000 qualifying draw on the merit of her ranking alone, and proved her capability by qualifying and then winning four rounds of the main draw without dropping a set, only to lose in the final to a little-known player called Vanja Corovic of Serbia and Montenegro.

Her next significant breakthrough followed in mid-August, as she came through qualifying into a $25,000 draw for the first time at Moscow, and defeated Oxana Lyubtsova in the main draw on the way to a quarter-final defeat by upcoming fellow-Russian star Vasilisa Bardina.

The following week, she was wildcarded directly into a $25,000 draw at Balashikha, also in Russia, and bettered her career-best result set the previous week by battling through to the semifinals, after knocking out competent Israeli player Yevgenia Savransky in the quarter-finals, before she was once again defeated by Bardina in straight sets.

On her next attempt to qualify for a $25,000 tournament, at Tbilisi, Georgia in September, she lost in the qualifying round to Kristina Antoniychuk of the Ukraine in straight sets, but was allowed into the main draw as a lucky loser, only to face Bardina for a third time in the first round. Despite winning a set from her fellow-Russian for the first time, she lost the match in three.

Wildcarded into a $50,000 main draw at Batumi, also in Georgia, at the end of that month, she reached the second round then lost to another emerging compatriot Alla Kudryavtseva.

The next week, in early October, she was favoured with yet another wildcard into a main draw, and this time it was to be her first WTA tour main draw, although she had never even entered qualifying for an event above $25,000 calibre previously. Nonetheless, she rose to the occasion by defeating experienced compatriot Tatiana Panova in Round One and Hungarian talent Melinda Czink in Round Two to reach the quarter-final stage at her début WTA event, but then lost a tight three-set clash to her compatriot Ekaterina Bychkova.

The ranking points accrued by this recent run of results were sufficient to afford her direct entry into the main draw of the next $25,000 contest she entered, which took place at Minsk in Belarus, early in November. In this instance, she won through to the quarter-finals, but was stopped a round short of her career-best performance at this level by emerging star Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.

In mid-November she was forced to fight through qualifying to enter the popular $25,000 event at Pruhonice in the Czech Republic, and succeeded in defeating future top-50 star Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia and Masa Zec-Peskiric of Slovenia to achieve this end. But in the first round of the main draw she lost in two close sets, 4–6 4–6, to Czech player Michaela Pastikova.

She did not play another match for the next three months, but ended the year ranked World No. 323, evidencing an auspiciously rapid start after her first full year on the ITF circuit.

2006

Returning to competition towards the end of February, she gained direct entry into a $50,000 tournament at St. Paul,Minnesota, and won her first-round tie before losing a close three-setter to American Ahsha Rolle, 6–2 4–6 3–6.

In her next two $25,000 tournaments, she endured early losses, but on returning from a month's break early in May to compete in a $25,000 event at Antalya-Manavgat, Turkey, she reached the quarter-finals after beating Aurélie Védy of France in a close three-set second-round clash, but then was demolished 1–6 1–6 by on-form Italian star Romina Oprandi.

The following week, she gained entry into the qualifying draw of her first $75,000 tournament at Jounieh, Indonesia, and won through all three qualifying rounds in close three-set matches against little-known opponents to score her career-best qualifying achievement yet, but finally succumbed to compatriot Alla Kudryavtseva in the first round of the main draw in an even closer contest, 6–7 6–4 4–6.

In July, she suffered another relatively early loss in the main draw of a $25,000 tournament at Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, as she was trounced by unheralded Ukranian Galyna Kosyk in the second round 0–6 2–6.

But in August she returned to form by breezing through into the finals of a $25,000 tournament at Moscow and then vanquishing upcoming compatriot Ekaterina Makarova in a closely-fought final, 7–6 6–3, to win the first ITF title of her career at any level.

The following month, she qualified for her second $75,000 draw, and this time came away with two main-draw victories also to extend her winning streak to ten, at the expense of Jorgelina Cravero of Argentina and Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada. In the quarter-finals, she faced experienced Peruvian veteran Kristina Brandi; and the match went down to the wire with a third-set tiebreak, but it was Brandi who emerged victorious, 6–2 1–6 7–6.

The very next week, she won through qualifying into a $50,000 event at Ashland, Kentucky, and defeated Varvara Lepchenko of Uzbekistan in the second round of the main draw before losing to future Top-20 star Agnes Szavay of Hungary in the quarter-finals.

As a direct entrant into the main draw of her next $50,000 tournament the following week, in early October, she was stopped in the second round by Ahsha Rolle, who this time defeated her easily for the loss of just two games.

Back in action again the week after at a $50,000 event at San Francisco, California, she lost in three sets at the first hurdle to American Neha Uberoi.

After returning to Russia, she reached another $25,000 quarter-final at Podolsk at the end of that month before losing to compatriot Eugenia Grebenyuk 2–6 5–7.

But the very next week, at the start of November, she turned the tables on Grebenyuk in the quarter-finals of a $25,000 tournament at Minsk, dismissing her 6–2 6–2, and then narrowly defeated compatriot Anna Lapushchenkova 7–6 7–5 at the semi-final stage, before sealing a comprehensive straight-sets tournament victory with a 6–4 6–3 win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final, to take her career ITF singles title tally to two.

Later that month at Prerov in the Czech Republic, she cruised to the semi-finals of another $25,000 event before losing to prominent British player Anne Keothavong 6–7 2–6 in what would be the Russian's last match of the year.

Despite a few hiccoughs along the route, Rodina had ended the year ranked 90 places higher than she began, at World No. 233, and had compiled an outstanding win-loss record for the year of 34-12.

2007

In January she entered qualifying for a WTA Tour event for the first time in her career, her only previous WTA appearance having been thanks to a main draw wildcard. But far from being a minor-level WTA event, it was a Grand Slam that she chose to tackle first at WTA qualifying level, and more specifically the Australian Open. In the first round of the qualifying draw she comfortably defeated American star Angela Haynes 6–3 6–0. But then she lost in the second to another American, Bethanie Mattek, 4–6 1–6.

After taking the next month off from competition, she entered qualifying for the Tier III tournament at Bogotá, Colombia in mid-February, and reached the qualifying round with two victories over South American players, before losing a close match to a little-known Spaniard, Estrella Cabeza-Candela.

A week later, she entered qualifying for another Tier III event in the Americas, this time at Acapulco, Mexico. But she was drawn against strong German player Greta Arn in the first round of qualifying, and ceded to her a close three-setter, 5–7 6–4 2–6.

Returning to the ITF circuit in March, she suffered a close first-round loss to Darya Kustova in the $25,000 event at Minsk beore winning through to the finals at Moscow with victories over fellow-Russians Oxana Lyubtsova and Alisa Kleybanova, but then lost a very close final to upcoming star Ekaterina Makarova, who thereby avenged her defeat at the hands of Rodina in the finals of another $25,000 event at Moscow the previous August.

Staying with $25,000 events in April, she lost a very close first round match to Australian Casey Dellacqua 7–6 6–7 3–6 at Biarritz, France, but the following week won through to the semi-finals at Calvia, Spain, with a three-set quarter-final victory against Czech star Petra Cetkovska, 6–4 3–6 6–4, only to lose her semifinal tie to Spanish player Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in straight sets.

Late that month, she stepped back up to the $50,000 level at Torrent, Spain, but lost in the second round to Estonia's Maret Ani.

Travelling to the Lebanon in May for the $75,000 tournament at Jounieh, she was upended in the first round by a little-known player from Slovakia, Zuzana Kucova, 1–6 4–6.

The following week, she reached the quarter-finals of a $50,000 tournament at Saint Gaudens, France with wins over Margalita Chakhnashvili of Georgia and Joanna Sakowicz of Poland, but was then demolished by veteran campaigner Tatiana Perebiynis of the Ukraine, who allowed her only one game in the match.

Towards the end of the month, she entered qualifying for a Grand Slam for the second time in her career, this time at the French Open, and defeated Hana Sromova of the Czech Republic in the first round, but then lost a very tight three set match to emerging Uzbek star Akgul Amanmuradova, 6–4 6–7 4–6.

In June, Rodina tried again at Wimbledon, but despite defeating her experienced compatriot Galina Voskoboeva in the first round of qualifying, she then lost rather easily to an upcoming Belarussian success story in the form of Olga Govortsova, 1–6 2–6.

After another month's break, she returned to action in late July at the $75,000 ITF tournament at Petange, Luxembourg, and made it through to the quarter-final stage before losing to Carla Suarez-Navarro of Spain 6–7 1–6.

In mid-August, she reached the quarter-finals of another $50,000 event at Bronx, New York with wins over Swedish star Sofia Arvidsson and Dutch campaigner Elise Tamaela, but then lost a very close quarter-final to Austrian Yvonne Meusburger, 6–2 3–6 6–7.

The very next week, she entered qualifying for her fourth straight Grand Slam of the year, and this time won two rounds at the expense of Elena Baltacha of Great Britain and Hana Sromova, but was defeated in three sets in the qualifying round by Olivia Sanchez of France, 6–4 1–6 4–6.

In September, as a direct entrant to the $100,000 tournament at Kharkov, Ukraine, she reached the quarter-final after notching up a straight-sets victory over another top British player, Katie O'Brien, in the first round, but then lost to veteran Anne Kremer from Luxembourg in the quarter-finals, 4–6 1–6.

At the end of the month, she achieved a career-first at Tashkent, Uzbekistan in qualifying for a WTA main draw, by successively defeating both Marta Domachowska of Poland and her Russian compatriot Anna Lapushchenkova in straight sets. Although it was only a Tier IV event, these were both strong opponents to encounter in a qualifying draw; and she capitalised on her achievement by ousting upcoming Chinese star Zhang Shuai in the first round of the main draw, 6–3 7–6. But then she faced emerging top-flight player Viktoria Azarenka of Belarus in Round Two, and ceded the match to her in two close sets, 4–6 3–6, so failing to equal her career best result set at the same event two years previously, although on that past occasion she had entered the tournament thanks to the award of a wildcard and did not encounter such tough second-round opposition.

Later the same week, she entered qualifying for the Tier I event at Moscow, and toughed out three-set victories against compatriots Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Anastasia Pivovarova before ultimately losing a similarly close three-setter to Australian former top-ten star Alicia Molik, 7–5 3–6 4–6, in the qualifying round.

Towards the end of the month, Rodina returned to the ITF circuit once more at Podolsk, Russia, and this time fought past Galyna Kosyk in a three-set quarter-final to avenge her crushing defeat at her hands back in July 2006. At the semi-final stage, she ousted Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in another three-set tussle, but in the final she comfortably defeated Anna Lapushchenkova, against whom she has never yet lost, to earn her third career ITF singles title, and third at $25,000 level.

In early November, she entered a $50,000 tournament at Minsk, Belarus, and after edging past a litte-known fellow Russian in Round One she successively defeated Viktoriya Kutuzova of the Ukraine 7–6 6–3, Aravane Rezai of France 6–4 6–3, and Ekaterina Dzehalevich of Belarus 6–2 4–6 6–4, to reach her career-first $50,000 final, having never previously made it past the quarter-finals at or above this level of event. Ironically, the final proved to be her easiest match of the tournament, as she virtually bulldozed Romanian Sorana-Mihaela Cirstea for the loss of just one game each set, to take home her career-first $50,000 title.´The next two weeks were to prove less successful for Rodina. She first encountered Ekaterina Bychkova in the first round of the $50,000 event at Deauville, France, and was edged out by her 6–4 2–6 5–7. Next, after gaining direct entry into the main draw of the $100,000 event at Poitiers, France, she ran into Stephanie Foretz and was defeated by her 3–6 2–6.

In December, however, she entered the $75,000 tournament at Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and enjoyed further success, with another victory over Anna Lapushchenkova in the second round, followed by the avenging of her previous defeat to Alla Kudryavtseva in the quarter-finals, though it was to be another close three-set match between them, 7–5 5–7 6–3. These victories took her to her career-first $75,000 semi-final, where she met Yuliana Fedak of the Ukraine, and vanquished her in two close sets, 6–4 6–4. But in the first $75,000 final, she was faced with the challenge of playing erstwhile Top-25 star Maria Kirilenko; and though the first set was close, it was to be Kirilenko who eventually ran away with the match, 7–5 6–2.

Nonetheless, this performance lifted Rodina to a career-high ranking of World No. 120 on December 17th, a position she maintained at the end of the year, which had seen her surge upwards by a further one hundred and thirteen places.

2008

Back in Australia a couple of days before the start of January 2008, she again tried her luck at qualifying for events on the WTA Tour, but suffered a rare bleak run of results as she lost in the first rounds of qualifying in all three tournaments she entered, falling to Julia Schruff of Germany at Gold Coast (1–6 5–7), to Yaroslava Shvedova at Hobart (5–7 6–2 1–6), and to Junri Namigata of Japan at the Australian Open (1–6 3–6).

But with few ranking points to defend from that time of year in 2007, she had slipped only three places on the WTA rankings list to World No. 123 by the start of February; and even a further first-round loss to Estonian star Kaia Kanepi (3-6 4-6) at the first tournament she played that month, the Tier III event at Vina del Mar, Chile, was enough to drop her ranking only to 127th by the last week of February.

In late February, she reached the second round of the Tier III tournament at Memphis, Tennessee by defeating former Top 100 player (but then World No. 158) Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus in Round One, before losing heavily to Lindsay Davenport, 1-6 1-6. The following week, early in March, she reached the second round of a $50,000 ITF event at Las Vegas with a 6-1 6-4 win over Varvara Lepchenko before losing to Chinese World No. 87 Yuan Meng 2-6 2-6 in the second round.

A reprieve from this disappointing run of finishes was just around the corner, however, as at the annual Tier I event at Indian Wells held over two weeks in the middle of March she successfully came through two tough rounds of qualifying by defeating resurgent former Top 50 star Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria (7-5 6-2) and World No. 117 Rossana de los Rios of Paraguay (6-3 6-2), and then went on to defeat wildcarded fellow-Russian Anastasia Pivovarova (6-4 6-3) and French World No. 26 Virginie Razzano (6-0 6-7 6-2) to reach the third round of the main draw, before losing to Spanish World No. 31 Anabel Medina Garrigues (3-6 5-7). Her string of four victories at this tournament, albeit two in qualifying, was sufficient to lift her to a new career-high ranking of World No. 102 in the week beginning March 24th.In the French Open, her first direct entry into a Grand Slam Main Draw, she took on the top seed and her compatriot, Maria Sharapova on the Philippe Chatrier Court, the largest court at Roland Garros. Rodina fought gamely and made a good account of herself, before Sharapova won 6-1, 3-6, 8-6.

External links

*wta|id=312584|name=Evgeniya Rodina
*ITF female profile|number=100036642