Julia Vakulenko
 | |
| Country (sports) |
 Ukraine Spain |
|---|---|
| Residence | Barcelona, Spain |
| Born |
July 10, 1983 Yalta, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft) |
| Turned pro | 1998 |
| Retired | 2011 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | $869,480 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 282–191 |
| Career titles | 0 WTA, 7 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 32 (November 19, 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 | 136 (February 9, 2004) |
| Last updated on: June 23, 2008. | |
Julia Olegovna Vakulenko (Ukrainian: Юлія Оле́гівна Вакуленко) (born July 10, 1983 in Yalta) is a retired Ukraine-born female tennis player. She achieved her career high ranking of No. 31 on January 14, 2008.
In April, 2008, Vakulenko renounced her Ukrainian citizenship announcing 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 Wimbledon 2006, she had to pull out during the first round due to injury.
Julia became Kim Clijsters' last opponent in her professional career (before Clijsters' return in 2009). Julia won 7–6(3), 6–3 in the second round of J&S Cup in Warsaw, Poland on May 3, 2007. This earned her the nickname "Kimmie Killer".
A week later, Julia defeated World No. 3 Amélie Mauresmo at the Qatar Telecom 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 semi-finals to eventual champion Ana Ivanovic due to an injury.
On August 28, 2007, in the first round of the US Open, Julia defeated number nine seed Daniela Hantuchová 6–4, 3–6, 6–1. She eventually reached the fourth round, her best performance at a major ever, before falling to Ágnes Szávay.
At the final event of the season, the Bell Challenge held in Quebec City, Canada, Julia reached the first WTA final of her career. En route she beat Rossana de los Ríos, home favourite Stéphanie Dubois, Olga Govortsova and surprise package Julie Ditty. In the final, she lost to three-time Grand Slam champion Lindsay Davenport 6–4, 6–1, who was playing in only her third event since giving birth.
After changing of her citizenship from Ukrainian to Spanish in April, 2008, she plans to play for the Spain in the Fed Cup but she wasn't able to compete in 2008 Olympics due to lack of time to be included in Spain's application.[1]
WTA Tour finals
Singles: 1 (0–1)
| Legend: Before 2009 | Legend: Starting in 2009 |
|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments (0) | |
| WTA Championships (0) | |
| Tier I (0) | Premier Mandatory (0) |
| Tier II (0) | Premier 5 (0) |
| Tier III (0) | Premier (0) |
| Tier IV & V (0) | International (1) |
| Outcome | No. | Date | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | November 4, 2007 | Bell Challenge Quebec City, Canada | Carpet (i) |  Lindsay Davenport |
4–6, 1–6 |
Singles performance timeline
To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament when the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2008 French Open, which ended on June 8, 2008.
| Tournament | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | Career Win-Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slams | ||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | 2R | A | A | 2R | 1R | 2–3 |
| French Open | A | 3R | 1R | A | 3R | 1R | 1R | 4–5 |
| Wimbledon | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1–6 |
| US Open | A | 2R | 2R | A | A | 4R | 1R | 4–3 |
| Grand Slam Win-Loss | 0–0 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 4–4 | 0–4 | 12–18 |
| WTA 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 |
| WTA 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 |
| WTA Tier III tournaments | ||||||||
| Birmingham1 | A | A | A | A | A | 3R | - | 2–1 |
| WTA Tier IV tournaments | ||||||||
| Hyderabad1 | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | - | 0–1 |
| WTA Tier V tournaments | ||||||||
| Casablanca1 | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | - | 0–1 |
| Tournaments Won | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Year End Ranking | 209 | 73 | 129 | 185 | 120 | 32 | N/A | |
- A = did not participate in the tournament
- 1 Doha became a Tier I tournament in 2008, replacing San Diego and Zürich
Head-to-head record against other players
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