Maria Kirilenko life and biography

Maria Kirilenko is a Russian professional tennis player.

Singles Titles
2008: Estoril, Barcelona, Seoul
2007: Kolkata
2005: Beijing

Doubles Titles
2010: San Diego, Cincinnati
2009: Moscow
2008: Estoril, Cincinnati
2007: Doha
2005: Tokyo
2004: Birmingham

CAREER:

Kirilenko 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.

Maria Kirilenko had her breakthrough run on the WTA tour in Beijing in 2005, where she defeated Maria Sharapova in the semifinals and went on to win the title. Since then she has won four more titles, including three in 2008. She also had her best Slam result that year—a fourth-round finish at the Australian Open—and reached a career-high ranking of No. 18. Kirilenko is a fan of classical music and has been linked romantically with ATP pro and fellow Russian Igor Andreev. In 2009, she posed for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue alongside fellow pros Tatiana Golovin and Daniela Hantuchova.

2010:
Kirilenko 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 Radwańska, 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 Radwańska 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. Kirilenko was also paired up with Agnieszka Radwańska 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 Radwańska. 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.

2011:
She was invited by Hong Kong Tennis Patrons' Association to play Hong Kong Tennis Classic and won Gold Group Championships with her compatriot Vera Zvonareva and Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

PERSONAL:

Coached by Eric Van Harpen
Started playing at age 7 when father introduced her to game at Dinamo Moscow Central Stadium
Parents are Olga, Yuri
Favorites include movies Barber of Siberia and Story of a Knight, classical music (especially by Vivaldi, Mozart, Bach or Beethoven), books The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, Notre-Dame de Paris, White Fang and short stories by O'Henry
Speaks Russian, English
Enjoys other sports, especially soccer
Relaxes by reading books, watching movies, fishing, cooking
Admires Roger Federer and Jennifer Capriati for on-court style, attitude.

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