Julia Vakulenko
Юлія Вакуленко
Country (sports) Ukraine
 Spain
ResidenceBarcelona, Spain
Born (1983-07-10) 10 July 1983
Yalta, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
(now Ukraine)
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Turned pro1998
Retired2011
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$869,480
Singles
Career record282–191 (59.6%)
Career titles7 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 32 (19 November 2007)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2004, 2007)
French Open3R (2003, 2006)
Wimbledon2R (2005)
US Open4R (2007)
Doubles
Career record16–37 (30.2%)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 136 (9 February 2004)

Julia Olehivna Vakulenko (Ukrainian: Юлія Оле́гівна Вакуленко; born 10 July 1983) is a Ukraine-born female 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 career finals

Singles: 1 (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) United States Lindsay Davenport 4–6, 1–6

ITF finals

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

Singles (7–6)

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

Doubles (0–1)

Outcome No. Date Location Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. 23 November 2003 Barcelona, Spain Clay Spain Núria Roig Spain Marta Fraga
Spain 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.
Tournament2001200220032004200520062007200820092010Career 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 against other players

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

Top 10 wins

Season2007Total
Wins33
# Player Rank Event Surface Round Score JVR
2007
1. Belgium Kim Clijsters No. 4 Warsaw Open Clay 2nd round 7–6(7–3), 6–3 No. 61
2. France Amélie Mauresmo No. 3 German Open Clay 3rd round 2–6, 6–1, 6–2 No. 53
3. Russia Dinara Safina No. 10 German Open Clay Quarterfinals 6–3, 5–7, 6–3 No. 53

References

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