Nadia Petrova was born on June 8, 1982 in Moscow, Russia. In 1999, Petrova debuted as a professional tennis player and was ranked amongst the top 100 players in the Women’s Tennis Association, otherwise known as the WTA. In 2000, she entered the top 50 WTA players, and in 2003, she continued her streak and was ranked amongst the top 20 WTA players.
In the 2005-2006 season, Petrova managed to score both her first and second singles titles – the second having been achieved at Doha. A day after Petrova won her first Tier I title at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, she entered the top 5 on April 17, 2006. Petrova’s career high ranking rests at No.3, which was achieved on May 15.
In total, Petrova has a collection of eleven doubles titles, the most prominent being the one won at the 2004 WTA Tour Championships.
Petrova was clearly born in an athletic family – her mother Nadezhda Ilyina was a famous runner who won the 1976 Montreal Olympics bronze medal for the 400 meter relay. In addition, her father Victor was a well known hammer thrower.
In 1998, Petrova began her journey as a part of t he Women’s Tennis Association tour. After beating No.1 player Justine Henin Hardenne at the fourth round of the 2004 U.S. Open, Petrova began to receive the attention that she needed to jumpstart her career.
At the 2006 French Open, Petrova was defeated by player Akiko Morigami in the first round (6-2, 6-2). This result was viewed as a major fluke, and was accredited to Petrova’s ankle injury that became apparent during her training session right before the tournament. Thereafter, Petrova did not participate in the Wimbledon, and failed to win a single match at the U.S. Open Series, ending up with the score of 0-3. Petrova was defeated by 27th seed Tatiana Golovin in the third round of the 2006 U.S. Open. At the Tier II Tournament in Stuttgart, Petrova gained a victory against Svetlana Kuznetsova in a semifinal with the score 6-2, 1-6, 6-4. After, she beat Golovin in the final by 6-3, 7-6(4). This tournament marked her first title since the 2006 Tier I German Open, and fittingly, she entered the top 5 once again. Petrova continued to improve herself as she competed at the Kremlin Cup final, which is a Tier I tournament that takes place in Moscow. She ultimately beat player Nicole Vaidisova 6-0, 4-6, 7-6(3) to reach the final, but unfortunately was defeated by Ana Chakyetadze 6-4, 6-4.
Petrova competed at the Tier II tournament in Linz after resting for a week to recover from injuries. As the defending champion of the tournament, Petrova was declared as the second seed and went on to drop nine games in three matches before she reached the final. In the second round, Petrova beat Israeli player Shahar Peer 6-1, 6-1. Thereafter, Petrova defeated Samantha Stosur 6-1, 6-3 and Nicole Vaidisova (the fourth seed) 6-1, 6-2. In the final, Petrova was defeated by top seed Maria Sharapova 7-5, 6-2.
In November of 2006, Petrova failed to win two rounds of her robin matches at the WTA Tour Championships in Madrid, and thus did not reach the semifinals. Her sole victory was against Amalie Mauresmo by 6-2, 6-2.
The Hopman Cup is a competition that takes place in Perth, Australia that lasts from over a year. Petrova decided to partner up with Dmitry Tursunov and entered the 2007 Hopman Cup as the top seeds. Petrova was representing her country Russia and participated in the tournament from December 30, 2006 to January 5, 2007. Russia beat Spain in all three of the final matches, and therefore won the cup.
Petrova has a decent showing at the 2007 Australian Open – she lost only eight games in two matches. However, she was eventually defeated by Serena Williams in the third round 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.