Alina Jidkova

Country(sports)

BornJanuary 18, 1977 (age 48)

Moscow, Soviet Union
now Russia

Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)

Turnedpro1993

Alina Jidkova
Singles
Alina Jidkova at Kremlin Cup (2009)
Country (sports)	Russia
Born	(1977-01-18) January 18, 1977 (age 48) Moscow, Soviet Union now Russia
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Turned pro	1993
Retired	2010
Plays	Right (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$1,128,467
Career record	466–421
Career titles	9 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 51 (7 March 2005)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	3R (2000)
French Open	2R (2002)
Wimbledon	1R (2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)
US Open	2R (2006)
Doubles
Career record	281–332
Career titles	1 WTA, 9 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 50 (4 August 2003)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	2R (2003)
French Open	2R (2000, 2003, 2004)
Wimbledon	2R (2002, 2005, 2008)
US Open	2R (2005)

Alina Vladimirovna Jidkova (Алина Владимировна Жидкова; born 18 January 1977) is a former professional tennis player from Russia. Throughout her career, she found success in both singles and doubles. Jidkova reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 51 in March 2005, achieving strong singles performances against top players. She defeated several high-ranked opponents, including Serena Williams at Generali Linz in 2004, and also claimed wins over Mary Pierce, Jelena Janković, and Samantha Stosur.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

In doubles, she won a WTA title at the Mexican Open 2005 and reached three other WTA finals, including the Memphis Open 2003, Québec Open 2006, and Cincinnati Open 2007. Her doubles ranking peaked at No. 50 in August 2003.

Retirement and coaching career

In 2004, she reached the quarterfinals of Generali Ladies Linz after beating Serena Williams in straight sets.^[5] Aside from Williams, she has career victories against Jelena Janković, Mary Pierce, Samantha Stosur, Alicia Molik, Chanda Rubin, Amanda Coetzer, Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, Amy Frazier, Petra Martić, Mirjana Lučić-Baroni, Vera Dushevina and other notable players. In 2005, she won her single WTA Tour event, the Mexican Open doubles title in Acapulco, partnering with Tatiana Perebiynis. She has also finished runner-up on three other occasions.

She retired from professional tennis at the beginning of the 2011 season.^[6] Her last official singles match played was against Monica Puig, 2016 Olympic champion at the end of 2010 season.^[7] Being a PTA Certified Tennis Coach, she worked as a head coach for Galina Voskoboeva, Ksenia Pervak and Kaia Kanepi.^[8]

As a coach, Jidkova was part of the 2012 Olympics, coaching Galina Voskoboeva, who represented Team Kazakhstan. In 2017, she also coached Kaia Kanepi to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open.

Alongside her work with established athletes, she mentors young players, helping them reach the skill level needed for potential recruitment by top college tennis programs.

ITF World Tennis Masters Tour (seniors' circuit)

As of 2024, Jidkova has been playing doubles on the ITF World Tennis Masters Tour, now representing the United States of America. Partnering Julie Thu, she won both tournaments she entered so far, an MT1000 in Houston and an MT700 in Austin, Texas.^[9]

Personal life

Nicknamed “Alinka”, Alina Jidkova was born in Moscow, then part of the Soviet Union, into an athletic family. Her father, Vladimir, was an engineer and former weightlifter, while her mother, Lina, was a sprinter before becoming a school teacher.^[10] She grew up training at the Spartak Moscow Tennis Club and later the Spartak Tennis Academy.

Seeking further development, Jidkova moved to the United States to train at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. She now resides in The Woodlands, Texas with her husband, entrepreneur Sascha Ghods. The couple married on 18 December 2010 in Vienna, Austria, and have two children. Their son, currently training under Jidkova’s guidance, is also pursuing a career in tennis.

WTA Tour Finals

Doubles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1.	Feb 2003	U.S. National Indoors	Hard (i)	Bryanne Stewart	Saori Obata Akiko Morigami	1–6, 1–6
Win	2.	Feb 2005	Mexican Open	Clay	Tatiana Perebiynis	Rosa María Andrés Rodríguez Conchita Martínez Granados	7–5, 6–3
Loss	3.	Oct 2006	Tournoi de Québec, Canada	Hard	Jill Craybas	Carly Gullickson Laura Granville	3–6, 4–6
Loss	4.	Jul 2007	Cincinnati Open, U.S.	Hard	Tatiana Poutchek	Bethanie Mattek Sania Mirza	6–7^(4–7), 5–7

ITF finals

Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles: 17 (9–8)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	27 October 1997	ITF Culiacán, Mexico	Hard	Petya Marinova	6–3, 6–0
Runner-up	2.	11 May 1998	ITF Poza Rica, Mexico	Hard	Vanessa Menga	2–6, 7–6, 1–6
Winner	3.	18 May 1998	ITF Coatzacoalcos, Mexico	Hard	Adria Engel	6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	4.	4 January 1999	ITF San Antonio, United States	Hard	Holly Parkinson	6–3, 4–6, 3–6
Winner	5.	17 January 1999	ITF Miami, United States	Hard	Helen Crook	6–2, 7–5
Runner-up	6.	31 January 1999	ITF Clearwater, United States	Hard	Miroslava Vavrinec	0–6, 6–7
Winner	7.	19 July 1999	ITF Peachtree, United States	Hard	Erika deLone	6–7, 7–6, 6–4
Runner-up	8.	16 July 2000	ITF Peachtree, United States	Hard	Sandra Cacic	0–6, 2–4 ret.
Winner	9.	11 September 2000	ITF Hopewell Junction, United States	Hard	Jennifer Hopkins	6–3, 6–0
Winner	10.	9 October 2000	ITF Miramar, United States	Clay	Rossana de los Ríos	1–6, 7–6, 6–2
Runner-up	11.	27 November 2000	ITF Tucson, United States	Hard	Katalin Marosi	7–6, 4–6, 3–6
Runner-up	12.	29 January 2001	ITF Clearwater, United States	Hard	Anikó Kapros	3–6, 2–6
Runner-up	13.	29 January 2001	ITF Fresno, United States	Hard	Marissa Irvin	2–6, 1–6
Winner	14.	5 November 2001	ITF Pittsburgh, United States	Hard (i)	Marie-Ève Pelletier	6–4, 6–1
Winner	15.	23 July 2002	ITF Louisville, United States	Hard	Saori Obata	6–3, 6–4
Winner	16.	9 January 2007	ITF Tampa, United States	Hard	Olga Vymetálková	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	17.	5 June 2007	ITF Madrid, Spain	Clay	Carla Suárez Navarro	2–6, 1–6

Doubles: 30 (9–21)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	21 February 1994	ITF Amadora, Portugal	Hard	Anna Linkova	Teodora Nedeva Antoaneta Pandjerova	3–6, 1–6
Runner-up	2.	29 January 1996	Open de Saint-Malo, France	Hard (i)	Pavlina Bartůňková	Ariadne Katsouli Bérangère Quillot	2–6, 2–6
Runner-up	3.	4 August 1996	ITF Catania, Italy	Clay	Teodora Nedeva	Katia Altilia Laura Fodorean	6–1, 4–6, 3–6
Winner	4.	6 October 1996	ITF Langenthal, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	Helena Vildová	Caecilia Charbonnier Andrea Schwarz	6–4, 6–4
Winner	5.	23 March 1997	ITF Victoria, Mexico	Hard	Paola Arrangoiz	Karin Palme Graciela Vélez	5–7, 6–0, 6–2
Runner-up	6.	27 October 1997	ITF Culiacán, Mexico	Hard	Paola Arrangoiz	Lucila Becerra Isabela Petrov	5–7, 0–6
Runner-up	7.	19 January 1998	ITF Miami, U.S.	Hard	Aliénor Tricerri	Lilia Osterloh Zuzana Valeková	4–6, 4–6
Winner	8.	4 May 1998	ITF Tampico, Mexico	Hard	Adria Engel	Paula Cabezas Vanessa Menga	7–6, 7–5
Runner-up	9.	11 May 1998	ITF Poza Rica, Mexico	Hard	Adria Engel	Paula Cabezas Vanessa Menga	6–3, 2–6, 2–6
Runner-up	10.	18 May 1998	ITF Coatzacoalcos, Mexico	Hard	Adria Engel	Paula Cabezas Vanessa Menga	3–6, 2–6
Winner	11.	23 November 1998	ITF Culiacán, Mexico	Clay	Renata Kolbovic	Zsófia Gubacsi Aliénor Tricerri	6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	12.	4 January 1999	ITF San Antonio, U.S.	Hard	Holly Parkinson	Kylie Hunt Julie Thu	6–7, 4–6
Runner-up	13.	8 February 1999	ITF Rockford, U.S.	Hard (i)	Holly Parkinson	Lilia Osterloh Katie Schlukebir	6–7, 2–6
Winner	14.	19 September 1999	ITF Hopewell, U.S.	Hard	Li Fang	Dawn Buth Kim Grant	6–3, 6–3
Runner-up	15.	1 May 2001	ITF Dothan, U.S.	Clay	Gabriela Voleková	Marissa Irvin Janet Lee	0–6, 2–6
Winner	16.	14 October 2001	ITF Hallandale Beach, U.S.	Clay	Jessica Steck	Erica Krauth Vanesa Krauth	4–6, 6–2, 6–3
Winner	17.	12 November 2001	ITF Hattiesburg, U.S.	Hard	Abigail Spears	Rika Hiraki Nana Miyagi	6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	18.	3 December 2001	ITF West Columbia, U.S.	Hard	Abigail Spears	Amanda Augustus Jennifer Embry	6–0, 3–6, 3–6
Runner-up	19.	3 December 2002	ITF Boynton Beach, U.S.	Clay	Lina Krasnoroutskaya	Katalin Marosi Samantha Reeves	2–6, 6–7
Runner-up	20.	19 October 2003	ITF Sedona, U.S.	Clay	Rossana de los Ríos	Yan Zi Zheng Jie	6–7^(2–7), 6–7^(3–7)
Runner-up	21.	10 November 2003	ITF Eugene, U.S.	Hard	Tatiana Poutchek	Teryn Ashley Shenay Perry	6–3, 2–6, 4–6
Runner-up	22.	1 December 2003	ITF Palm Beach Gardens, U.S.	Clay	Tatiana Panova	Melinda Czink Erica Krauth	1–6, 2–6
Runner-up	23.	2 June 2008	Internazionale di Roma, Italy	Clay	Marie-Ève Pelletier	Klaudia Jans Alicja Rosolska	3–6, 1–6
Winner	24.	18 January 2009	ITF Boca Raton, U.S.	Clay	Darya Kustova	Kimberly Couts Sharon Fichman	6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	25.	8 February 2009	ITF Rancho Mirage, U.S.	Hard	Darya Kustova	Natalie Grandin Courtney Nagle	2–6, 6–7^(6–8)
Runner-up	26.	27 April 2009	Charlottesville Open, U.S.	Hard	Angela Haynes	Carly Gullickson Nicole Kriz	5–7, 6–3, [7–10]
Runner-up	27.	10 October 2009	ITF Mexico City	Hard	Karen Castiblanco	María Fernanda Álvarez Terán Frederica Piedade	3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	28.	8 March 2010	Clearwater Open, U.S.	Hard	Laura Siegemund	Xu Yifan Zhou Yimiao	4–6, 4–6
Winner	29.	19 April 2010	ITF Dothan Pro, U.S.	Clay	Anastasiya Yakimova	María Irigoyen Teodora Mirčić	6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	30.	11 October 2010	Classic of Troy, U.S.	Hard	Laura Siegemund	Madison Brengle Asia Muhammad	2–6, 4–6

Retirement and coaching career

ITF World Tennis Masters Tour (seniors' circuit)

Personal life

WTA Tour Finals

Doubles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)

ITF finals

Singles: 17 (9–8)

Doubles: 30 (9–21)

References

External links

Related Articles