Julia Vakulenko
Ukraine-born female tennis player (born 1983)
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Julia Olehivna Vakulenko (Ukrainian: Юлія Оле́гівна Вакуленко; born 10 July 1983) is a Ukrainian-born Spanish former tennis player. She achieved her career-high singles ranking of world No. 32 in November 2007. Vakulenko reached one WTA Tour final and won seven ITF singles titles.
| Country (sports) | |
|---|---|
| Residence | Barcelona, Spain |
| Born | 10 July 1983 |
| 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) |
In April 2008, Vakulenko renounced her Ukrainian citizenship, and then announced her decision to acquire the citizenship of Spain where she had lived for the previous 10 years.[1][2]
Career
At the 2006 French Open, Vakulenko reached the third round, losing to seventh seed Patty Schnyder.[3]
Having entered the tournament as a qualifier, she defeated then world No. 4 Kim Clijsters in the second round of 2007 J&S Cup in Warsaw, Poland.[4] Vakulenko retired due to injury while trailing by a set and a break of serve in her quarterfinal with fellow Ukrainian player Alona Bondarenko.[5] A week later at the 2007 German Open in Berlin, Vakulenko defeated world No. 3 Amélie Mauresmo and world No. 10 Dinara Safina, both in three sets, on the same day after rain stoppages had caused havoc with the event's schedule.[6] She retired in the first set of her semifinal match against 12th seed and eventual champion Ana Ivanovic due to a hand injury.[7]
On 28 August 2007, in the first round of the US Open, Vakulenko defeated ninth seed Daniela Hantuchová in three sets.[8] She eventually reached the fourth round, her best performance at a major, before falling to Ágnes Szávay.[9]
Seeded third at the final event of the 2007 season, the Bell Challenge in Quebec City, Canada, Vakulenko reached the first WTA Tour final of her career. En route, she defeated Rossana de los Ríos,[10] wildcard entrant Stéphanie Dubois,[11] fifth seed Olga Govortsova[12] and qualifier Julie Ditty.[13] In the championship match, she lost in straight sets to three-time Grand Slam champion Lindsay Davenport, who was playing in only her third event since giving birth.[14]
After changing her citizenship from Ukraine to Spain in April 2008, she planned to play for Spain in the Fed Cup, but was not able to compete in the 2008 Summer 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) |
| Result | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | Nov 2007 | Bell Challenge, Canada | Tier III | Carpet (i) | 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 | 1–6, 3–6 | |
| Win | 2. | 6 December 1998 | Mallorca, Spain | Clay | 6–4, 6–1 | |
| Loss | 3. | 3 April 2000 | Dinan, France | Clay | 6–2, 1–6, 2–6 | |
| Loss | 4. | 18 June 2000 | Lenzerheide, Switzerland | Clay | 2–6, 6–3, 6–7 | |
| Loss | 5. | 10 July 2000 | Getxo, Spain | Clay | 4–6, 0–6 | |
| Loss | 6. | 5 August 2001 | Saint-Gaudens, France | Clay | 4–6, 1–6 | |
| Win | 7. | 17 November 2002 | Deauville, France | Clay (i) | 6–2, 6–1 | |
| Win | 8. | 3 December 2002 | Daytona Beach, United States | Hard | 6–4, 6–0 | |
| Win | 9. | 29 September 2003 | Girona, Spain | Clay | 7–5, 2–0 ret. | |
| Win | 10. | 8 February 2009 | Rancho Mirage, United States | Hard | 6–0, 6–1 | |
| Loss | 11. | 16 February 2009 | Surprise, United States | Hard | 7–6(0), 3–6, 3–4 ret. | |
| Win | 12. | 27 June 2009 | Périgueux, France | Clay | 6–2, 7–5 | |
| Win | 13. | 10 August 2009 | Koksijde, Belgium | Clay | 7–5, 6–1 |
Doubles (0–1)
| Result | Date | Location | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 23 November 2003 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | 3–6, 3–6 |
Singles performance timeline
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| 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 | ||||
Head-to-head record
Players who have been ranked world No. 1 are in boldface.
- Dinara Safina 1–1
- Jelena Kostanić 1–0
- Svetlana Kuznetsova
- Flavia Pennetta 2–1
- Daniela Hantuchová 1–1
- Elena Dementieva 0–1
- Patty Schnyder
- Francesca Schiavone
- Anna Chakvetadze 1–0
- Maria Sharapova 0–1
- Ai Sugiyama 1–0
- Jelena Janković 1–1
- Amélie Mauresmo 1–1
- Kim Clijsters 1–1
- Caroline Wozniacki 0–1
- Anna Kournikova 0–1
- Lindsay Davenport 0–1
- Ana Ivanovic 0–1
- Justine Henin 0–1
- Serena Williams 0–1
- Petra Kvitová 0–1
- Mary Pierce 0–1
- Kimiko Date-Krumm
- Paola Suárez
- Alicia Molik
- Marion Bartoli 0–1
Top 10 wins
| Season | 2007 | Total |
| Wins | 3 | 3 |
| # | Player | Rank | Event | Surface | Round | Score | JVR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | |||||||
| 1. | No. 4 | Warsaw Open | Clay | 2R | 7–6(7–3), 6–3 | No. 61 | |
| 2. | No. 3 | German Open | Clay | 3R | 2–6, 6–1, 6–2 | No. 53 | |
| 3. | No. 10 | German Open | Clay | QF | 6–3, 5–7, 6–3 | No. 53 | |