Nadia Petrova

Birthplace:

Moscow, Russia

Residence

Miami, FL, USA

Height

5′ 10 1/4″ (1.78 m)

Weight

165 lbs. (75 kg)

Plays

Right-handed

Turned Pro

1999

Hailing from Moscow, Nadia Petrova has been a regular (and popular) visitor to Eastbourne’s Devonshire Park.

 

She made her professional debut in 1998, when she captured the junior French Open crown. Three years later she broke into the world’s top 50, but just as her career was beginning to take off she had to spend a season on the sidelines due to injury.

 

However, she returned strongly in 2003, reaching the semi-finals of the French Open and breaking into the top 20.

 

In April 2004 she was welcomed into the world’s top 10, and in the same year won seven doubles titles alongside her partner, American ace Meghann Shaughnessy.

 

Her first singles title would follow soon after when she was crowned champion in Linz in 2005. Another highlight of that year was her return to the semi-finals of the French Open, where she fell to Justine Henin. But her best year was 2006, when she won five WTA titles.

 

In 2011 she dropped out of the top 20 for the first time since entering it in 2002, although she still managed to win a tenth title in Washington. That same year she played in the third longest match in the history of women’s tennis against Sam Stosur in the US Open (3 hours 16 min).