Nadezhda Viktorovna Petrova (born June 8, 1982 in Moscow, Soviet Union) is a Russian professional Woman tennis player. Nadezhda Petrova has won 28 WTA Titles, ten in singles and eighteen in doubles. In singles, Petrova has reached a career high ranking of World No. 3 in May 2006. As of 4 July Petrova will be ranked World No. 33 in singles and World No. 10 in doubles.
Petrova is an all-court aggressive player who is capable of hitting winners off both wings, but particularly off her back-hand which is considered to be one of the best in the women's game and which she is capable of hitting flat and with slice. Petrova's serve is considered her biggest asset and is one of the strongest on the women's tour along with the Williams Sisters and Samantha Stosur. In 2009 she hit the second most aces on the tour with 306, just behind Serena Williams and won over 72% of her service games.
Petrova has also had success in doubles, reaching a career high of No. 3 in the doubles rankings. She has eighteen doubles titles, eight of them with Meghann Shaughnessy including the prestigious year-ending WTA Tour Championships in 2004, where they beat Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs in the final. She also has victories at the Tier I events in Moscow, Key Biscayne, Berlin, Rome, and Montreal, with all but the Montreal title being with Meghann Shaughnessy and the aforementioned other one being with Martina Navratilova. In 2002 and 2003, she also reached the finals of three Tier I events with Jelena Dokic. In 2010, Petrova is partnered with a top 10 doubles player Samantha Stosur and Liezel Huber. In 2011, Petrova partnered with Liezel Huber and Anastasia Rodionova.
Petrova's 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. Petrova states hard courts as her favourite surface, however, she has been most successful on clay courts.
As a junior, Petroca won the 1998 French Open, beating Jelena Dokic 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 ended 2003 ranked World No. 12 with a 45–23 singles record. At the US Open, she pulled off the biggest win of her career by defeating World No. 1 and defending champion Justine Henin 6–3, 6–2 in the fourth round. It was Petrova's first victory over a world No. 1. She lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 7–6, 6–3.
In 2005, Petrova finally won her first title at the Generali Ladies Linz held in Linz, Austria. She beat Patty Schnyder in the final. Her successful season meant she qualified for the Sony Ericsson Championships in Los Angeles. She ended 2005 ranked World No. 9, her first top ten finish.
Nadia Petrova won her second straight title and fourth overall at the Family Circle Cup with a victory over Patty Schnyder in 2006. She next entered the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, defeating Justine Henin. With this win, she ascended to her career high of No. 3. At the Stuttgart, Petrova won her first tournament title since the Tier I Qatar Telecom German Open in May 2006. She then continued her return to form by reaching the final of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, losing to Russian Anna Chakvetadze. At the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid in November 2006. Her lone victory was over top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo 6–2, 6–2. She finished the year at No. 6.
In 2007, At the JPMorgan Chase Open, Petrova reached her third final of the year, losing to Ana Ivanovic in straight sets. At the US Open, Petrova was seeded seventh but lost to Agnes Szavay 6–4, 6–4. The loss meant that she had not gone past the fourth round of any Grand Slam tournament all year, the first time since 2002. She finished 2007 ranked No. 14, her lowest year-end ranking in five years.
Petrova started her 2008 season on a two-match losing streak going into the Australian Open, losing in the first round in Gold Coast as the number 2 seed to Tathiana Garbin 5–7, 7–5, 6–3 and in Sydney 7–5, 6–3 to Sybille Bammer. Petrova finished the 2008 season ranked World No. 11.
Petrova started 2009 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 was seeded eleventh at the 2009 French Open in Paris where she reached the semi-finals in 2003 and 2005. Petrova finished her poor year with a 30–21 singles record and she finished the year ranked World No. 20. It was by far her worst year on tour as she captured no titles for the first time since 2004.
Petrova's started her year at the Brisbane International in Australia. After drawing comeback queen Justine Henin as the number two seed, Petrova lost in a close 5–7, 5–7 match. Petrova was seeded 19th at the 2010 French Open. Petrova was seeded 12th at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. She defeated Tatjana Malek 6–4, 6–3 in the first round and Yung-Jan Chan 6–3, 6–4 in the second. Petrova then fell to 17th seed Justine Henin in the third round, 6–1 6–4. This caused her ranking to slip to World No. 19. She finished the 2010 season ranked World No. 15.
For the 2011 French Open Petrova was seeded 26th, and lost in the first round. Petrova then reached the 4th round of the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, falling to Victoria Azarenka. Following Wimbledon, Petrova won the inaugural 2011 Citi Open, beating Shahar Peer for her first title since 2008 . At cincinnati she lost to Andrea Petkovic 7-5, 6-1 in the quarters.
