Maria Kirilenko

At 37 years old, Maria Kirilenko has this physical status:

Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko (Russian: Мари́я Ю́рьевна Кириле́нко, IPA: [mɐˈrʲijə kʲɪrʲɪˈlʲɛnkə] listen ; born 25 January 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A junior Grand Slam champion at the 2002 US Open at the age of 15, she went on to become a top ten player in both singles and doubles. Kirilenko won six WTA singles titles and 12 doubles titles. She was a three Grand Slam singles quarterfinalist (reaching that stage at the 2010 Australian Open, the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2013 French Open), a semifinalist at the 2012 London Olympics (where she lost to Victoria Azarenka in the bronze medal match), and reached a career-high ranking of world No. 10 on 10 June 2013. In women's doubles, she became ranked as high as No. 5 in the world on 24 October 2011, and reached two Grand Slam finals, at the 2011 Australian Open with Azarenka and the 2012 French Open with compatriot Nadia Petrova. Along with Petrova, Kirilenko won the 2012 WTA Tour Championships in doubles and was a bronze medalist at the 2012 London Olympics.

Personal life

Kirilenko dated fellow Russian tennis player Igor Andreev for several years. They split in 2011.

In November 2011, Russian ice-hockey player Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals identified Kirilenko as his girlfriend on his Twitter account. On 31 December 2012, Ovechkin confirmed the rumors that he and Kirilenko were engaged. In July 2014, she called off her planned wedding saying in comments distributed by the Russian Tennis Federation that there were "a lot of reasons" behind her decision. Ovechkin had faced questions from Russian media about the relationship when he did not accompany Kirilenko to Wimbledon in June.

On 24 January 2015, Kirilenko got married but the name of her husband was not revealed until a few days later: she married Alexei Stepanov, reported to be the head of the Committee of Public Services in Moscow.

In July 2015, following a ten-month absence from professional tennis, it was reported that Kirilenko had given birth to a baby boy. In July 2017, Kirilenko gave birth to a baby girl.

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Tennis career

Kirilenko won the junior tournaments at the Canadian Open and US Open in 2002.

Kirilenko began participating in WTA tournaments in 2002. In 2004, she began to rise in the rankings, but she was knocked back by an injury. Kirilenko won in three sets in the first set off Serena Williams in the 2004 French Open. At the Hyderabad Open, she came in second place behind Nicole Pratt.

She climbed to the top of the charts at the end of 2005 and took her first title in Beijing. For the first time, she debuted in the top 20 for the first time on June 12, 2006. Kirilenko was seeded 20th and advanced to the third round of the US Open before losing to Aravane Reza.

In April 2006, Kirilenko made her Fed Cup debut for Russia at the Fed Cup tournament. She lost her singles match against 2005 US Open champion Kim Clijsters, but she defeated Justine Henin and Clijsters in the World Group quarterfinals against Belgium. However, Russia lost by 2–3.

She reached the third round of the Australian Open in January 2007 before being defeated by third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. She then competed in the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, where she advanced to the second round, upsetting the world No. 98. Before being defeated by Ai Sugiyama, 15 Shahar Pe'er of Israel was defeated by Ai Sugiyama. She then competed in the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she advanced to the second round of the championships before losing in a close match to Daniela Hantuchová.

Kirilenko shocked second seeded Jelena Jankovi to advance to the quarterfinals at the Acura Classic in San Diego, California, before losing to fellow Russian Elena Dementieva. She defeated sixth seed Marion Bartoli in straight sets before losing to eventual champion Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals at the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles.

She defeated Martina Müller and 22nd seed Katarina Srebotnik, who was unseeded at the US Open. Julia Vakulenko, an unseeded girl, was then defeated by her fiance. She appeared in the Sunfeast Open after the US Open. Kirilenko claimed her second WTA Tour singles title in straight sets over unseeded Mariya Korytseva. The fourth seed also advanced to the finals in Seoul, Kirilenko, but top seed Venus Williams lost to top seed Venus Williams next week.

Kirilenko advanced to the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career, defeating sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze. Daniela Hantuchová, to whom she lost 6–1, 4–6, 4–6, 4–6, after leading 6–1, 3–1.

Kirilenko advanced to the second round of a Tier-I tournament in Doha, defeating Ekaterina Makarova in three sets 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, she reached the final of a Tier-IV tournament in Estoril, where she defeated Iveta Benevá in straight sets over in straight sets. She also won the doubles championship in the United States, partnering Flavia Pennetta. Kirilenko also won in Barcelona, defeating Martinez-Sanchez for her fourth WTA title and the second of the year.

In August, Kirilenko qualified as third seed in the Tier-III tournament in Cincinnati, where she was third seed. She reached the semifinals, where she lost to eventual champion Nadia Petrova. She joined Petrova as the second-seed doubles team, defeating Hsieh Su-wei and Yaroslava Shvedova in the finals.

Kirilenko was seeded 27th at the Australian Open but fell to Sara Errani, a top-five player in the first round.

Kirilenko and Agnieszka Radwa Radwa, the world No. 1, were partnered in the Dubai doubles tournament, and despite being unseeded, they reached the final, losing to Liezel Huber and Cara Black, the world No. 2). At the time, there was just one doubles pairing.

Kirilenko was unseeded in the singles tournament at the 2009 French Open, losing to Olivia Rogowska of Australia in the first round. Kirilenko and Doubles partner Flavia Pennetta of Italy were seeded eighth in the doubles tournament. They made it to the third round of the competition before losing to 11th seeded Anna-Lena Grönefeld of Germany and Patty Schnyder of Switzerland.

Kirilenko was unseeded at Wimbledon and made it to the second round of the second round, losing to ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki.

She made it to the third round of the US Open, defeating her doubles partner Radwaska before losing to Li Na. She continued to compete in the Korea Open in Seoul, where she was the defending champion but fell in the semifinals to eventual champion Kimiko Date-Krumm.

Kirilenko began the year off by playing in the ASB Classic, where she advanced to the quarterfinals but lost to Shahar Pe'er. At that time, the No. 1 in the United States came in a ranked No. 74. Kirilenko, 58, was unseeded at the Australian Open, where she defeated her friend, former doubles champion and 14th seed Maria Sharapova, 7–6, 6–4, in a 3-hour 22-minute marathon. It was the second-longest women's match in Australian Open history (second only behind the 2011 fourth-round match between Francesca Schiavone and Svetlana Kuznetsova). She advanced to the quarterfinals after losing to Zheng Jie, who was also unseeded for this tournament. She and her partner, Agnieszka Radwa Radwaska, were seeded 15th and advanced to the semifinals, losing there to the world No. 1. Cara Black and Liezel Huber in three sets make up one pair.

At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Kirilenko qualified as the 32nd seed. She made it to the third round after losing to second seed Caroline Wozniacki. Kirilenko came in 32nd seed in the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. She progressed to the third round after losing to Wozniacki like Indian Wells.

Kirilenko competed in Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, where she was unseeded. She advanced to the quarterfinals, where she lost to world No. 168. Serena Williams is the author of the book Serena Williams.

Kirilenko qualified to the French Open for the first time in her career before losing to 17th seed and eventual champion Francesca Schiavone after defeating defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova en route. Kirilenko and Radwa was seeded 11th in the doubles draw. They reached the quarterfinals before losing in straight sets to Serena and Venus Williams, the eventual champions.

She was the 27th seed in the singles draw at Wimbledon. She advanced to the third round after losing to eighth seed Kim Clijsters. Kirilenko was also paired with Agnieszka Radwa in the doubles draw, where they were seeded 10th.

Kirilenko qualified for the quarterfinals of the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, before losing to Radwaska. She and Victoria Azarenka competed in the doubles tournament and met in the semifinals.

She then progressed to the second round of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open and the Rogers Cup, losing to Vera Zvonareva and Victoria Azarenka respectively. She advanced to the semifinals at Pilot Pen Tennis, losing to Nadia Petrova.

She advanced to the third round of the US Open, losing to 11th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.

She then progressed to the second round of the Korea Open, losing to former world No. 2 Kim Kim Kim. 1 Dinara Safina and Toray Pan Pacific Open loses to Flavia Pennetta. She lost in the third round of the China Open, the year's last Premier-Mandatory competition, to eventual champion and compatriot Vera Zvonareva. After losing the first set 4–6, she had to return in the second round due to a hip injury against Chang Kai-chen. Kirilenko advanced to Victoria Azarenka in the final of the Kremlin Cup.

Kirilenko's season ended in 2010 at No. 66, according to a poll. In the world, the 20th Century is the most popular.

She competed at the Hong Kong Tennis Classic and won the Gold Group Championship with her compatriots Vera Zvonareva and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. She struggled to defend her quarterfinal positions after being disqualified in the second round of the Australian Open. However, she advanced to the final, partnered with Victoria Azarenka, but she lost to Pennetta and Dulko in the doubles competition. She then dropped early in the Pattaya Open and Dubai Tennis Championships. She then advanced to Agnieszka Radwa on both BNP Paribas Open and Sony Ericsson Open in the third round, losing both BNP Paribas Open and Sony Ericsson Open to Agnieszka Radwa on both directions. She then suffered three defeats in a row in the second round of the Family Circle Cup and the first round of Mutua Madrid Open and Internazionali BNL d'Italia. However, she and Victoria Azarenka won doubles at the Mutua Madrid Open in the Mutua Madrid Open. She advanced to the fourth round of the French Open after losing in three sets to Andrea Petkovic.

She then fell in the first round of the UNICEF Open to Kimiko Date-Krumm, but she regained control by winning the third round of the Wimbledon Championships, eventually being barred by seventh-seeded Serena Williams. She then failed to win back-to-back matches in the second round of the Bank of the West Classic, Mercury Insurance Open, first round of Rogers Cup, and the second rounds of the Western & Southern Open and Bank of the West Classic. She then returned to the US Open after losing by 2–615–3–6 in the fourth round to eventual champion Samantha Stosur 2–6, 7–615–3–6. The second set tie-break record of 15–17 was the highest in any major tournament in women's tennis history.

She reached her first semifinal appearance of the year at the Guangzhou International Women's Open, losing to Chanelle Scheepers 5–7, 4–6. She appeared in the second round of the Pan Pacific Open and the China Open, where she defeated Samantha Stosur in three sets on both occasions; she also lost in the quarterfinals to Vera Zvonareva and Monica Niculescu, respectively. She appeared in the second round of the BGL Luxembourg Open, her last tournament of the year, where she had to withdraw from the second round due to an ankle injury.

Kirilenko began her 2012 season at the Apia International Sydney in Sydney. In the second round of qualifying to Sofia Arvidsson, she lost in the second round of qualifying. Kirilenko retired after her third-round match against second seed Petra Kvitová due to an upper left leg injury.

Kirilenko qualified fourth at the PTT Pattaya Open, finishing fourth in the final where she was defeated by third seed Daniela Hantuchová. Kirilenko lost in the second round to fourteenth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in Doha at the Qatar Total Open. Kirilenko was disqualified in the second round by Ana Ivanovic at the Dubai Tennis Championships. Kirilenko, seeded twentieth at the BNP Paribas Open Championship, advanced to the quarterfinals, where she lost to second seed Maria Sharapova. Kirilenko was defeated in the fourth round by seventh seed Marion Bartoli, seeded twenty-second in Miami at the Sony Ericsson Open.

Kirilenko began her clay-court appearance at the Estoril Open. In the second round to qualifier Karin Knapp, she was seeded second, losing in the second round. Kirilenko was defeated in the second round by Ekaterina Makarova, seeded sixteenth at the Mutua Madrid Open, Kirilenko was seeded sixteenth. Kirilenko finished in the first round of the Italian Open in Rome seeded sixteenth. Kirilenko retired after her first-round match against Sloane Stephens due to a right ankle injury. Kirilenko was defeated in the second round by Klára Zakopalová, seeded sixteenth at the French Open.

Kirilenko had only one tournament before Wimbledon, the UNICEF Open. In the first round to Francesca Schiavone, she was seeded fifth and placed fifth. Kirilenko was ranked seventeenth seed at the Wimbledon Championships. For the first time, she had a landslide over Alexandra Cadanţu, Lourdes Domno, and Sorana Cîrstea. She had just reached her second week of the four majors. She reached her second Grand Slam quarterfinal and first at Wimbledon, defeating thirtieth seed Peng Shuai. Agnieszka Radwa, a third seed and eventual champion, after almost three hours of play, three rain delays, and changing judges, she eventually fell short of third seed and eventual finalist Agnieszka Radwa.

Kirilenko, who competed for Russia in the Summer Olympics, defeated sixth seed Petra Kvitová in her quarterfinal match. Maria Sharapova, the eventual silver medalist, failed in her semifinal match. Despite her loss, she had a chance to win the bronze medal. Victoria Azarenka defeated her in the bronze medal match, resulting in her ending up in 4th place. Despite this, she captured a bronze medal in women's doubles with Nadia Petrova, defeating the No. 1 in the no. 78 rankings. Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond's 1st ranked team.

Kirilenko began preparing for the US Open in Cincinnati at the Western & Southern Open. She was seeded tenth in the first round, losing to Venus Williams in the first round. She returned to form at Yale's Premiership, the New Haven Open. Kirilenko, seeded seventh, reached her second final of the year, defeating second seed Petra Kvitová. Kirilenko was seeded fourteenth in the US Open, but she suffered a third-round loss at Andrea Hlavá. Kirilenko and Petrova defeated Williams sisters in the third round of doubles before losing in the quarterfinals to eighth seeds Nuria Llagostera Martez Sánchez.

Kirilenko retired from her first-round match against Lee So-ra due to a back injury. Kirilenko lost in the first round to Ekaterina Makarova, the thirteenth seed at the China Open. Kirilenko was defeated in the semifinal by Sofia Arvidsson, seeded seventh at the Kremlin Cup. Kirilenko lost her first match to second seed Nadia Petrova, but she won her second one over eighth seed Tsvetana Pironkova. Due to an upper respiratory illness, she was unable to participate in her third match against sixth seed Jie Zheng. At the WTA Tour Championships, Kirilenko competed in her last tournament of the season. In the final, she and Petrova gained the doubles title, defeating Andrea Hlavá/Lucie Hradecká in the final.

Kirilenko finished the year in singles and 7 in doubles.

Kirilenko, who was a student at the Apia International Sydney, lost in the second round to third seed Sara Errani in the second round. Kirilenko finished in the fourth round after being seeded fourteenth at the Australian Open, defeating third seed Serena Williams.

Kirilenko, who was seeded second second at the PTT Pattaya Open, won the tournament over fifth seed Sabine Lisicki in the final. Kirilenko played one match and defeated Kimiko Date-Krumm in the Fed Cup match against Japan. Russia advanced to the semifinal by a 3-2 score. Kirilenko retired from her first-round match against qualifier Ekaterina Bychkova due to a shoulder injury. Kirilenko qualified to the semifinals at the BNP Paribas Open, seeded thirteenth, and fifth seed Petra Kvitová. Maria Sharapova, the second seed and eventual champion, was disqualified in her semifinal match. Kirilenko failed in the third round to twenty-first seed Klára Zakopalová, seeded fourteenth at the Sony Open Tennis. Kirilenko qualified third in Mexico at the Montero Open, defeating top seed and eventual champion Angelique Kerber in the semifinals. Kirilenko lost her first match to Daniela Hantuchová but defeated Dominika Cibulková in her last match in the Fed Cup semifinals against Slovakia, but she beat Dominika Cibulková in her second match. In November versus Italy, Russia defeated Italy 3-2 to advance to the final.

Kirilenko began preparing for the French Open at the Mutua Madrid Open. She was seeded thirteenth and eventual champion Serena Williams was disqualified in the third round by top seed, defending champion, and eventual champion Serena Williams. Kirilenko retired during her third-round match against seventh seed Sara Errani due to a left knee injury. Kirilenko defeated Nina Bratchikova and Ashleigh Barty to advance to the third round, defeating Stefanie Vögele in the French Open seeded twelfth. She advanced to the French Open quarterfinals after beating Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the fourth round. Victoria Azarenka, her former doubles companion and third seed, has since lost her quarterfinal match to her former doubles companion and third seed. For the first time, her time in Paris propelled her to the top ten for the first time.

Kirilenko was seeded sixth at the Aegon International Expo, but she made it to the quarterfinals, where she was eliminated by Yanina Wickmayer. Kirilenko suffered a first-round defeat at the hands of home crowd favourite Laura Robson, seeded tenth at the Wimbledon Championships. Kirilenko's ranking as a result dropped to No. 1 in the Top 100. She was ranked 12 in the world rankings due to the fact that she was defending a quarterfinal appearance from 2012.

At the Rogers Cup, Kirilenko began her US Open series. Alizé Cornet, seeded eleventh, lost in the second round to her in the second round. Kirilenko was seeded sixteenth at the Western & Southern Open, but Mona Barthel defeated him in the second round. Kirilenko fell in the third round to twenty-first seed Simona Halep, seeded fourteenth at the US Open.

At the Korea Open, Kirilenko began the Asian swing. Kimiko Date-Krumm defeated her in the second round of seeded second, she was seeded second. Kirilenko lost in the third round to top seed and eventual champion Serena Williams in Beijing, China Open. Kirilenko was seeded third at the Kremlin Cup, but Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated him in the second round. Alizé Cornet's retirement was a result of her season at the Garanti Koza WTA Tournament of Champions in Sofia, where she lost by 0–5 to Alizé Cornet.

Kirilenko finished the year as number 19 in the top 20 percent.

Kirilenko was not on any entry lists for the 2014 tournaments, and she was still recovering from the knee injury sustained in the Tournament of Champions in Sofia. Due to her injury, she also missed the Australian Open.

Kirilenko made her comeback at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston after missing the two Premier Mandatory events in Indian Wells and Miami. Belinda Bencic, a qualifier who eventually reached her first WTA semifinal, seeded tenth, was disconceived in the first round. Kirilenko won the Mutua Madrid Open on the first round over qualifier Kristina Mladenovic for her first victory of the year. Due to a left wrist injury, she was forced to miss her second-round match against qualifier Caroline Garcia. Kirilenko lost in the first round of the Italian Open to Svetlana Kuznetsova. Kirilenko finished in the first round of the French Open, defeating Johanna Larsson in three games. As a result, her ranking dropped 44 places to 88 after struggling to secure quarter-final positions.

Kirilenko competed in the Topshelf Open in Rosmalen, but lost to Mona Barthel in the first round. Kirilenko finished 109th in the Wimbledon Championships, her lowest ranking in five years. Sloane Stephens, the first year's quarterfinalist and eighteenth seed, caused an upset by defeating her eighteenth seed and the previous year's quarterfinalist in the first round. Peng Shuai defeated her in the second round.

Kirilenko started the US Open unseeded and defeated 2006 champion Maria Sharapova in the first round after a month-long break. She lost in straight sets in straight sets.

Kirilenko played as a wildcard at the Seoul Open in Seoul, South Korea. In her first two matches, she defeated Donna Vekiya and third seed Klára Koukalová in her first quarterfinal in 15 months. Kaia Kanepi, the sixth seed, was then defeated for a spot in the semifinals. In the hands of second seed and eventual champion Karolna Plková, her run came to an end. Kirilenko appeared in the China Open for the fourth time this season. In the first round, qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova defeated her.

Kirilenko finished the year ranked 186th in the world rankings.

Kirilenko gave birth to two children between 2015 and 2017, but she has yet to return to competitive tennis. She hasn't competed professionally since 2014 and is not ranked by the WTA.

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