June 15th 2009: Good news today as Nadia won her match in the Eastbourne 1st round posting a 3 sets win against Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic, a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win. In the 2nd round, Nadia will face A. Sugiyama or Q.
May 27th 2009: Sad news today as Nadia lost her match in Roland Garros losing in the 2nd round 3 sets against Russia’s Maria Sharapova, a 6-2, 1-6, 8-6 loss.
May 24th 2009: Good news today as Nadia won her match in the Roland Garros 1st round posting a 2 sets win against USA’s Lauren Embree, a 6-1, 6-2 win. In the 2nd round, Nadia will face A. Yakimova or M. Sharapova.
May 13th 2009: Sad news today as Nadia lost her match in Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open losing in the 3rd round 3 sets against Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder, a 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 loss.
May 11th 2009: Good news today as Nadia won her match in the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open 2nd round posting a 3 sets win against Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld, a 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 win. In the 3rd round, Nadia will face Patty Schnyder.
May 9th 2009: Nadia was in action today in Madrid but her opponent Iveta Benesova got injured and withdrew while Nadia led 6-0, 2-1..
May 6th 2009: Sad news today as Nadia lost her match in Rome losing in the 3rd round 3 sets against Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, a 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 loss.
May 5th 2009: Good news today as Nadia won her match in the Rome 2nd round posting a 3 sets win against Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro, a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win. In the 3rd round, Nadia will face Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.
April 30th 2009: Sad news today as Nadia lost her match in Porsche Tennis Grand Prix losing in the 2nd round 2 sets against Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, a 6-2, 6-2 loss.
April 29th 2009: Good news today as Nadia won her match in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 1st round posting a 3 sets win against China’s Jie Zheng, a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win. In the 2nd round, Nadia will face Flavia Pennetta.
April 16th 2009: Sad news today as Nadia lost her match in Charleston losing in the 3rd round 3 sets against Hungary’s Melinda Czink, a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 loss.
April 14th 2009: Good news today as Nadia won her match in the Charleston 2nd round posting a 3 sets win against Austria’s Patricia Mayr, a 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 win. In the 3rd round, Nadia will face V. King or M. Czink.
April 11th 2009: Sad news today as Nadia lost her match in Ponte Vedra Beach losing in the semifinals 3 sets against Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak, a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 loss.
April 10th 2009: Good news today as Nadia won her match in the Ponte Vedra Beach quarterfinals posting a 3 sets win against Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko, a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 win. In the semifinals, Nadia will face Aleksandra Wozniak.
April 8th 2009: Good news today as Nadia won her match in the Ponte Vedra Beach 2nd round posting a 2 sets win against USA’s Madison Keys, a 6-3, 6-2 win. In the quarterfinals, Nadia will face Alona Bondarenko.
April 7th 2009: Good news today as Nadia won her match in the Ponte Vedra Beach 1st round posting a 2 sets win against Belarus’s Olga Govortsova, a 6-2, 6-4 win. In the 2nd round, Nadia will face M. Keys.
March 29th 2009: Sad news today as Nadia lost her match in Sony Ericsson Open losing in the 3rd round 2 sets against Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova, a 7-5, 6-1 loss.
March 28th 2009: Good news today as Nadia won her match in the Sony Ericsson Open 2nd round posting a 3 sets win against Netherlands’s Michaela Krajicek, a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win. In the 3rd round, Nadia will face Ekaterina Makarova.
January 25th 2009: Sad news today as Nadia lost her match in Australian Open losing in the 4th round 2 sets against Russia’s Vera Zvonareva, a 7-5, 6-4 loss.
January 23rd 2009: Nadia did not have to play a complete match, she advances to the 4th round after a 6-1 win against Galina Voskoboeva (who was injured), up next will be Vera Zvonareva.
January 21st 2009: Good news today as Nadia won her match in Australian Open posting a 2 sets win against India’s Sania Mirza, a 6-3, 6-2 win. She will now face Galina Voskoboeva..!
January 19th 2009: Good news today as Nadia won her match in Australian Open posting a 2 sets win against Russia’s Yaroslava Shvedova, a 6-3, 7-6 win. Up next is Sania Mirza..!
January 12th 2009: Sad news today as Nadia lost her match in Sydney losing in 2 sets against France’s Alize Cornet, a 6-2, 6-4 loss.
December 16th 2008: Nadia has announced she would be unable to play in Auckland after all to start off her season because she is fighting a viral meningitis..:( Read more here.
November 8th 2008: Nadia finally got a chance to play in Doha as Serena Williams withdrew before her 3rd match.. Nadia did battle hard but came up a bit short as she lost to Elena Dementieva 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.. Nadia’s 2008 season is now over..
November 2nd 2008: Nadia’s match continued, she won her final 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 against Bethanie Mattek…! “It was really wonderful to win this event. To finish off the season like this is wonderful. Now I have a long journey ahead of me to Doha, but it’ll definitely be worth it. And then it’ll be really nice to put the racquets aside for a few weeks!”
November 1st 2008: Nadia’s tournament continued today, she won 6-1, 6-3 against Angela Haynes to reach the singles final..!
October 31st 2008: Nadia continued her road today, she defeated Melinda Czink 6-1, 6-4 to reach the semifinals!
Read more: http://www.sportsclb.com/nadia-petrova/#ixzz1SHkHqczk
June 29th 2009: Sad news today as Nadia lost her match in Wimbledon losing in the 4th round 3 sets against Belarus’s Victoria Azarenka, a 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 loss.
June 26th 2009: Good news today as Nadia won her match in the Wimbledon 3rd round posting a 3 sets win against Argentina’s Gisela Dulko, a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win. In the 4th round, Nadia will face Victoria Azarenka.
June 24th 2009: Good news today as Nadia won her match in the Wimbledon 2nd round posting a 2 sets win against Israel’s Shahar Peer, a 6-3, 6-2 win. In the 3rd round, Nadia will face Gisela Dulko.
June 22nd 2009: Good news today as Nadia won her match in the Wimbledon 1st round posting a 2 sets win against Belarus’s Anastasia Yakimova, a 6-1, 6-1 win. In the 2nd round, Nadia will face Shahar Peer.
Read more: http://www.sportsclb.com/nadia-petrova/#ixzz1SHkSlVzy
August 6th 2009: Sad news today as Nadia lost her match in Los Angeles, losing in the 3rd round 2 sets against Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, a 6-3, 6-3 loss.
August 5th 2009: Good news today as Nadia won her match in the Los Angeles, 2nd round posting a 3 sets win against Israel’s Shahar Peer, a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 win. In the 3rd round, Nadia will face Flavia Pennetta.
July 29th 2009: Sad news today as Nadia lost her match in Stanford losing in the 2nd round 2 sets against Russia’s Maria Sharapova, a 6-1, 6-2 loss.
July 27th 2009: Good news today as Nadia won her match in the Stanford 1st round posting a 3 sets win against USA’s Bethanie Mattek, a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win. In the 2nd round, Nadia will face M. Sharapova or A. Sugiyama.
Read more: http://www.sportsclb.com/nadia-petrova/#ixzz1SHkZS15W
She was fading away, and it appeared obvious that she was fading because of a lack of focus and mental toughness.
Petrova actually did not win a tournament of any kind until the very last stage of the 2005 season, and—though the tennis media has chosen to ignore it—that victory was somewhat of a gift.
I happened to be in Europe during the 2005 Generali Ladies Linz, so I watched the final on Eurosport. Petrova played Patty Schnyder, who took the first set easily. Petrova then took the second, and during the third, Schnyder injured her hand. She then had to play the remainder of the match with one hand, and it was no surprise that she lost it.
Petrova might have won, anyway—she was playing well—but we’ll never know.
At any rate, this victory changed Nadia Petrova. It must have been a tremendous relief to finally win a tournament, and the muttering, racquet-smashing Petrova (a persona totally at odds with her off-court demeanor) got down to business in 2006. She won Doha, then went on a clay court tear, winning Amelia Island, Charleston and Berlin.
By this time, she looked like a very serious contender to win the French Open, but a terrible thing happened. Petrova injured her hip during a pre-French Open practice session, and consequently lost in the first round.
This very unfortunate situation seemed to knock the wind out of her, as it would just about any player who was poised to win one of the majors. She began to suffer from various injuries, and to hire and fire coaches faster than most of us could follow.
In 2007, she looked frazzled and burned out, and at one point, she said, with characteristic candor, that she had lost her motivation to play tennis, and was doing some serious sorting out of her future.
At some point, Petrova decided to stick with tennis for a while, and, as the 2008 season began, we saw flashes of the 2003 and 2006 Petrova. She has stuck with the same coach for a while now, and she is playing well again. The hip injury returns now and then, but things are generally better for Petrova. She reached the final at Eastbourne, and she won Cincinnati. She continues to do well in doubles.
Petrova finished eleventh in the race to the Sony Ericsson Championships, and is now ranked eleventh in the world. She was the maroon group alternate in Doha, and—on her way to the broadcast booth to do some commentating—she was called on to play a match against Elena Dementieva when Serena Williams withdrew. Petrova lost the match, but she played very well, stayed calm, and appeared to be enjoying herself a lot.
Unfortunately, there is more bad luck for Petrova, and the 2009 season has not even begun. She was scheduled to begin her 2009 schedule at the ASB Classic in New Zealand, but she has contracted viral meningitis, and her Australian Open participation is in question. However, it should not take that long for Petrova to make a full recovery, and if she stays relatively healthy, there is a good chance that she can return to her former status in 2009. She likes hard courts, she says, but she really excels on clay courts.
She has coaching consistency now, she has taken control of her court anger, she has a strong serve, and she brings a lot of doubles expertise with her every time she plays a singles match. Petrova has it all, but has not always brought it all together at big occasions.
Nadia Petrova is, once again, definitely a player to watch.
Diane Elayne Dees publishes Women Who Serve, a blog about women’s professional tennis. Diane is a life-long fan of women’s tennis; her interest in the sport began when she first saw Evonne Goolagong play. Diane attends the Family Circle Cup in Charleston every year, and has a fondness for clay court tennis, which she developed while following the career of the great Chris Evert.
This article is part of On the Baseline’s 2009 Players to Watch Series. Please join us for a special look at several rising and resurgent stars on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.
Way back when, some people thought that Nadia Petrova would be the first Russian to break through in a big way. She had almost everything—a big serve, solid groundstrokes, and quite a bit of finesse at the net.
In 2003, she reached the semifinals at Roland Garros, knocking off Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati on the way. That year, she also reached the final at Linz, played in several semifinals, and won some doubles tournaments.
But it was Maria Sharapova, of course, who won Wimbledon in 2004. That same year, Anastasia Myskina won the French Open, and Svetlana Kuznetsova won the U.S. Open. Elena Dementieva was the finalist in both the French and the U.S.
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