Julia Vakulenko

Julia Vakulenko
Юлія Вакуленко
Country (sports)	Ukraine; Spain
Residence	Barcelona, Spain
Born	10 July 1983 (age 41); Yalta, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union; (now Ukraine)
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Turned pro	1998
Retired	2011
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$869,480
Singles
Career record	282–191
Career titles	7 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 32 (19 November 2007)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	2R (2004, 2007)
French Open	3R (2003, 2006)
Wimbledon	2R (2005)
US Open	4R (2007)
Doubles
Career record	16–37
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 136 (9 February 2004)

Julia Olehivna Vakulenko (Ukrainian: Юлія Оле́гівна Вакуленко; born 10 July 1983) is a Ukraine-born former tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of No. 32 in November 2007.

In April 2008, Vakulenko renounced her Ukrainian citizenship, and then announced her decision to acquire the citizenship of Spain where she's lived for the last ten years.^[1]^[2]

Career

At the 2006 French Open, Vakulenko reached the third round. At the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, she withdrew during the first round due to injury.

Julia became Kim Clijsters' last opponent in her professional career (before Clijsters' return in 2009). Vakulenko won 7–6⁽³⁾, 6–3 in the second round of J&S Cup in Warsaw, Poland on 3 May 2007. This earned her the nickname "Kimmie Killer".

A week later, Julia defeated world No. 3, Amélie Mauresmo, at the German Open in Berlin, 2–6, 6–1, 6–2 (her career best), and then defeated Dinara Safina, 6–3, 5–7, 6–3, before retiring in the first set in the semifinals to eventual champion Ana Ivanovic due to an injury.

On 28 August 2007, in the first round of the US Open, Julia defeated ninth seed Daniela Hantuchová, 6–4, 3–6, 6–1. She eventually reached the fourth round, her best performance at a major, before falling to Ágnes Szávay.

At the final event of the season, the Bell Challenge held in Quebec City, Vakulenko reached the first WTA Tour final of her career. En route, she beat Rossana de los Ríos, home favourite Stéphanie Dubois, Olga Govortsova and Julie Ditty. In the final, she lost 4–6, 1–6 to three-time Grand Slam champion Lindsay Davenport, who was playing in only her third event since giving birth.

After changing of her citizenship from Ukraine to Spain in April 2008, she planned to play for Spain in the Fed Cup, but wasn't able to compete in the 2008 Olympics due to lack of time to be included in Spain's application.^[1]

WTA Tour finals

Singles: 1 (runner-up)

Winner – Legend
Grand Slam
Tier I
Tier II
Tier III, IV & V (0–1)

Outcome	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	4 November 2007	Bell Challenge, Canada	Tier III	Carpet (i)	Lindsay Davenport	4–6, 1–6

ITF finals

Legend
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles (7–6)

Result	No.	Date	Location	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	28 September 1998	Lerida, Spain	Clay	Mariam Ramón Climent	1–6, 3–6
Win	2.	6 December 1998	Mallorca, Spain	Clay	Laura Pena	6–4, 6–1
Loss	3.	3 April 2000	Dinan, France	Clay	Melanie Schnell	6–2, 1–6, 2–6
Loss	4.	18 June 2000	Lenzerheide, Switzerland	Clay	Kira Nagy	2–6, 6–3, 6–7
Loss	5.	10 July 2000	Getxo, Spain	Clay	María José Martínez Sánchez	4–6, 0–6
Loss	6.	5 August 2001	Saint-Gaudens, France	Clay	Céline Beigbeder	4–6, 1–6
Win	7.	17 November 2002	Deauville, France	Clay (i)	Virginie Pichet	6–2, 6–1
Win	8.	3 December 2002	Daytona Beach, United States	Hard	Bethanie Mattek-Sands	6–4, 6–0
Win	9.	29 September 2003	Girona, Spain	Clay	Barbora Strýcová	7–5, 2–0 ret.
Win	10.	8 February 2009	Rancho Mirage, United States	Hard	Lauren Albanese	6–0, 6–1
Loss	11.	16 February 2009	Surprise, United States	Hard	Yanina Wickmayer	7–6⁽⁰⁾, 3–6, 3–4 ret.
Win	12.	27 June 2009	Périgueux, France	Clay	Sophie Ferguson	6–2, 7–5
Win	13.	10 August 2009	Koksijde, Belgium	Clay	Iryna Brémond	7–5, 6–1

Doubles (0–1)

Result	Date	Location	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	23 November 2003	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Núria Roig	Marta Fraga Adriana González-Peñas	3–6, 3–6

Singles performance timeline

Key
W	F	SF	QF	#R	RR	Q#	DNQ	A	NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Tournament	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	Career W-L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	Q1	A	Q3	2R	A	A	2R	1R	A	Q1	2–3
French Open	A	Q2	3R	1R	A	3R	1R	1R	Q1	A	4–5
Wimbledon	Q3	Q2	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	1R	Q1	A	1–6
US Open	Q3	A	2R	2R	A	A	4R	1R	Q1	A	5–4
GS Win–loss	0–0	0–0	3–3	2–4	1–1	2–2	4–4	0–4	0–0	0–0	12–18
Tier I tournaments
Doha¹	Not Tier I or Was Not Held						A	0–0
Indian Wells	A	A	1R	A	A	1R	A	0–2
Miami	A	A	1R	A	A	3R	A	2–2
Charleston	1R	A	A	A	3R	1R	A	2–3
Berlin	A	A	1R	A	2R	SF	A	5–3
Rome	2R	A	A	A	A	A	1R	1–2
Montreal/Toronto	A	A	A	A	A	1R		0–1
Tokyo	A	A	1R	A	A	A		0–1
Moscow	A	A	A	A	A	A		0–0
San Diego¹	A	A	A	A	A	1R	-	0–1
Zurich¹	A	A	A	A	A	A	-	0–0
Tier II tournaments
Amelia Island¹	A	A	A	A	A	2R	-	1–1
Warsaw¹	A	A	A	2R	2R	3R	-	4–3
Stanford¹	A	A	A	A	A	1R	-	0–1
Los Angeles¹	A	A	A	A	A	1R	-	0–1
Luxembourg¹	A	A	A	A	A	1R	-	0–1
Stuttgart¹	A	A	A	A	A	2R	-	1–1
Linz¹	A	A	A	A	A	QF	-	3–1
Tier III tournaments
Birmingham¹	A	A	A	A	A	3R	-	2–1
Tier IV tournaments
Hyderabad¹	A	1R	A	A	A	A	-	0–1
Tier V tournaments
Casablanca¹	A	A	1R	A	A	A	-	0–1
Year-end ranking	209	73	129	185	120	32		N/A

¹ Doha became a Tier I tournament in 2008, replacing San Diego and Zürich

Head-to-head record

Players who have been ranked world No. 1 are in boldface.

Top 10 wins

Season	2007	Total
Wins	3	3

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Round	Score	JVR
2007
1.	Kim Clijsters	No. 4	Warsaw Open	Clay	2nd round	7–6^(7–3), 6–3	No. 61
2.	Amélie Mauresmo	No. 3	German Open	Clay	3rd round	2–6, 6–1, 6–2	No. 53
3.	Dinara Safina	No. 10	German Open	Clay	Quarterfinals	6–3, 5–7, 6–3	No. 53

References

^ ^a ^b Известная теннисистка отказалась от украинского гражданства, korrespondent.net, April 23, 2008
^ Tennis – One of Ukraine's top players, Yulia Vakulenko, has opted to take out Spanish citizenship, Reuters, Apr 23, 2008

External links

Julia Vakulenko at the Women's Tennis Association
Julia Vakulenko at the International Tennis Federation

[korr-1] Известная теннисистка отказалась от украинского гражданства, korrespondent.net, April 23, 2008

[2] Tennis – One of Ukraine's top players, Yulia Vakulenko, has opted to take out Spanish citizenship, Reuters, Apr 23, 2008

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