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Biography |
Nadia Petrova 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
and again in 2005. As of July 24, 2007, she is the No. 9
player in the world.
Petrova was born 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 and her parents.
As a junior, Petrova won the 1998 French Open, beating
Jelena Dokić in the final. The same year she finished
runner-up at the prestigious year-ending 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 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
and 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 and the U.S. Open in 2001 and 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. |
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