Nadezhda Viktorovna Petrova Russian: Надежда Викторовна Петрова ; born June 8, 1982) is a Russian professional tennis player. Her highest ranking is No. 3, which she achieved in May 2006 after defeating Justine Henin in the final of the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin. She has also reached the French Open semifinals twice, once in 2003 and again in 2005. As of August 17th, 2009, she is ranked World No. 12.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.
As a junior, Petrova won the 1998 French Open, beating Jelena Dokić in the final. 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.
Petrova started the year playing at the 2009 Medibank International Sydney where she was seeded seventh. She lost in the first round to Alize 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 Suarez Navarro. In the third round Petrova was ousted by Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-4, 6-7 (5) 6-4.
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 Ivanovic 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 Peer 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.
Her next tournament will be the 2009 US Open.
