MARIA KIRILENKO HOT PHOTOSKirilenko won her first WTA Tour title in 2005, defeating Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the China Open. Kirilenko reached 18, her career-high singles ranking, on the WTA tour in July 2008. She won the junior event at the 2002 Canadian Open, as well as the 2002 US Open junior tournament. She has reached one Grand Slam quarterfinal at the 2010 Australian Open. As of 2 May 2011, Kirilenko is ranked World No. 26.In 2002, Kirilenko started participating in WTA events. She began moving up the rankings but was setback by an injury in 2004. At the end of 2005, she climbed back up the rankings and won her first title in Beijing. On 12 June 2006, she broke into the world's top 20 for the first time. Kirilenko made her debut for Russia at the nation-based Fed Cup tournament in April 2006. In the World Group Quarter-Final tie against Belgium, Kirilenko lost her singles match against 2005 US Open champion Kim Clijsters, but partnering with Dinara Safina, won her doubles match against Justine Henin and Clijsters. However, Russia ended up losing 3–2. At the 2006 US Open, Kirilenko was seeded 20th and reached the 3rd Round before losing to Aravane Rezaï. [edit] 2007 Kirilenko at Wimbledon 2007In January 2007, she advanced to the third round of the 2007 Australian Open, before being defeated by third-seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. She then competed in the 2007 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, where she advanced to the second round upsetting World number 15 Shahar Pe'er of Israel, before being defeated by Ai Sugiyama. She then competed in the Dubai Tennis Championships in Dubai, where she reached the second round, before losing in a close match to Daniela Hantuchová.[3] Kirilenko with her mixed doubles partner and boyfriend Igor Andreev at the US OpenAt the Acura Classic in San Diego, California, Kirilenko upset second seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia to advance to the quarter-finals, before losing to fellow Russian Elena Dementieva. At the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles, California she also reached the quarters, upsetting Number 6 seed Marion Bartoli in straight sets. Unseeded at the US Open, she defeated Martina Müller of Germany, and then 22nd seed Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia. She then lost to the unseeded Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine. After the US Open, she appeared in the Sunfeast Open. There, Kirilenko won her second WTA Tour singles title, defeating unseeded Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine in straight sets. The next week at a tournament in Seoul, Kirilenko, as the Number 4 seed had also reached the finals but lost to top seed Venus Williams of the USA. [edit] 2008At the Australian Open, Kirilenko reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career, by beating No. 6 seed Anna Chakvetadze. Her next opponent was Daniela Hantuchová, to whom she lost in the fourth round 1–6, 6–4, 6–4, after leading 6–1, 3–1. Kirilenko then reached the second round of a Tier I event in Doha, beating Ekaterina Makarova before losing to Anabel Medina Garrigues in three sets. Kirilenko then lost four matches in a row at Dubai, Bangalore, Indian Wells and Miami. However, as the second seed, she reached the final of a Tier IV event at Estoril, where she defeated Iveta Benešová in straight sets. She also won the doubles title there, partnering with Flavia Pennetta. Kirilenko also won in Barcelona, defeating Martinez-Sanchez for her fourth career WTA title and the second this year. Kirilenko played at the Tier III tournament in Cincinnati in August where she was the number 3 seed. She reached the semi-finals, where she lost to eventual champion Nadia Petrova. She partnered with Petrova as the 2nd seed doubles team and beat the number 1 seed pair of Hsieh Su-wei and Yaroslava Shvedova in the finals. [edit] 2009Kirilenko was seeded 27th at the Australian Open but lost in the first round to unseeded Sara Errani of Italy in the tournament's first upset. In the Dubai doubles tournament, Kirilenko partnered with Agnieszka Radwanska, and even though they were unseeded, they reached the final, eventually losing to Liezel Huber and Cara Black, the world number one doubles pairing at that time. At the 2009 French Open, Kirilenko was unseeded in the singles tournament, and lost to Olivia Rogowska of Australia in the first round. In the doubles tournament, Kirilenko and doubles partner Flavia Pennetta of Italy were seeded 8th. They made it to the third round before losing to 11th seeded Anna-Lena Grönefeld of Germany and Patty Schnyder of Switzerland. Kirilenko was unseeded at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, and made it to the second round before losing to 9th seeded Caroline Wozniacki. At US Open she made it to the third round before losing to Li Na. She then competed in the 2009 Hansol Korea Open in Seoul where she was the defending champion but lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Kimiko Date Krumm. [edit] 2010Kirilenko began the year by competing in the 2010 ASB Classic were she reached the Quarterfinals, before losing to Shahar Pe'er. With a world ranking at that time of 58, Kirilenko was unseeded at the 2010 Australian Open where in the first round she upset her friend, and former doubles partner, number 14 seed Maria Sharapova 7–6(4), 3–6, 6–4 in a 3 hour, 22 minute marathon. It was the second longest women's match in Australian Open history. She advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to Zheng Jie who was also unseeded for this tournament. In the doubles portion, she and her partner, Agnieszka Radwanska, were seeded 15 and advanced to the semifinals before losing to the world number one pairing of Cara Black and Liezel Huber in three sets. Kirilenko entered as the seed No. 32 at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. She made it to the third round before losing to #2 seeded Caroline Wozniacki. Kirilenko participated in the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida as the No. 32 seed. Like Indian Wells, she advanced to the third round, before again losing to Caroline Wozniacki. Kirilenko played in Rome, Italy for the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia where she was unseeded. She advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to World No. 1 Serena Williams. Kirilenko's entered the French Open as the #30 seed. She advanced to the round of 16 here for the first time in her career, before losing to the No. 17 seed and eventual champion Francesca Schiavone. In the doubles draw of the French Open, Kirilenko and Agnieszka Radwanska were seeded 11. They reached the quarterfinals before losing to the eventual champions Serena and Venus Williams in straight sets. At Wimbledon she was the No. 27 seed in the singles draw. She advanced to the third round before losing to #8 seed Kim Clijsters.[4] Kirilenko was also paired up with Agnieszka Radwanska in the doubles draw where they were seeded No. 10, but they lost. Kirilenko made the quarterfinals of the 2010 Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California. before losing to Agnieszka Radwanska. She entered the doubles tournament with Victoria Azarenka, where they lost in the semifinals. She then reached the second rounds of 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open and the 2010 Rogers Cup losing to Vera Zvonareva and Victoria Azarenka, respectively. Then at the 2010 Pilot Pen Tennis, she was able to reach the semifinals before losing to Nadia Petrova. She reached the third round of the 2010 US Open losing to 11th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. She then reached the second rounds of 2010 Hansol Korea Open losing to former world no. 1 Dinara Safina and 2010 Toray Pan Pacific Open to Flavia Pennetta. At the last Premier Mandatory event of the year in the 2010 China Open, she lost in the third round to eventual finalist and compatriot Vera Zvonareva. In the 2010 HP Open she retired in the second round due to a left hip injury against Chang Kai-chen after losing the first set 6–4. Kirilenko reached the final of the 2010 Kremlin Cup, where she fell to Victoria Azarenka. Kirilenko ended the 2010 season ranked number 20 in the world. [edit] 2011She obtained an invite from Hong Kong Tennis Patrons' Association to play Hong Kong Tennis Classic and won Gold Group Championships with her compatriots Vera Zvonareva and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. At the Australian Open she failed to defend her quarterfinal points by being knocked out in the second round. However, in the doubles competition, she reached the final partnered with Victoria Azarenka but lost to Pennetta and Dulko. The Kirilenko/Azarenka team managed to win the Mutua Madrid Open. At the French Open, she reached the third round in singles and reached the quarterfinals in the doubles event. [edit] Playing styleKirilenko is an aggressive baseliner, with both power and angle in her shots. She also has good speed around the court and can switch quickly between offensive and defensive play. Her forehand is her preferred shot, often setting up points and a great asset towards her game. Unlike many female players in recent years, Kirilenko is not afraid to come to the net. Her volleying skills are considered exceptional,[5] as she utilizes a drop volley, angled volley, and half volley all very well to quickly end the rally.
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