Regina Kulikova life and biography

Regina Kulikova is a professional Russian tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 65th, which she reached on May 3, 2010. Her career high in doubles is 417th, which she reached on September 28, 2009. Her best result on the WTA tour so far is the quarterfinal appearance at the 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships where she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova.

CAREER:

2010:
In 2010 Kulikova came through to qualify for the first time at the Australian Open. In the first round she lost to Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová 7–6(5) 6–7(10) 6–3 in four hours and nineteen minutes, which was the second-longest women's singles match in the Open Era.

Ranked 99 in the world, Kulikova entered one of the biggest events of the year at the 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships and had a tremendous run by reaching the quarter–finals. She qualified for the main draw by defeating Chanelle Scheepers 6–3, 6–0 and Alla Kudryavtseva 6–2, 7–5. She then reached the third round by defeating Maria Kirilenko 6–3, 6–0 and Stefanie Vögele 6–3, 6–0. In the third round she came from a set down and a 1–4 third set deficit to defeat World No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova 5–7, 7–6(2), 6–4. She then lost in three sets to World No. 9 Agnieszka Radwańska in the quarterfinals with a score of 3–6, 6–4, 6–3. Due to her success, she jumped 31 places in the WTA rankings to a career high of No. 68.

Hoping to continue her recent good form, Kulikova entered the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. In the qualifying rounds she lost just 3 games, defeating Sharon Fichman 6–0, 6–1 and Kathrin Wörle 6–1, 6–1 to enter the main draw. She was then defeated by World No. 55 Roberta Vinci 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 in the first round. In the first set, Kulikova came back from 0–3 to win it 6–3 and attempted to launch a comeback from 1–5 in the third set and managed to get to 4–5 30–00 but could not push for the win.

She then entered the main draw of the 2010 Barcelona Ladies Open and defeated 8th seed Lucie Šafářová in the first round 6–3, 7–6(4). She was then defeated by unseeded Timea Bacsinszky in the second round 2–6, 6–2, 6–3. Despite an early loss, she rose to a new career high of No. 66.

After a short break, Kulikova resumed her clay court season with a direct entry into the 2010 Internationaux de Strasbourg. She was defeated by top seed Maria Sharapova in the first round 6–3, 3–6, 6–1.

Due to her ranking, Kulikova then competed in the main draw of the French Open without having to qualify. She drew 17th seed Francesca Schiavone in the first round and despite much determination, she was unable to beat the Italian, losing 5–7, 6–3, 6–4, the only player to take a set off the eventual champion in the tournament.

PERSONAL:
Coached by Rolf Buehler
Father, Alexandr, played pro basketball; mother, Elena, sometimes travels with her; grandfather on mother's side was coach of national volleyball team for 40 years; is an only child
Married Italian engineer Simone Serges at age 19 (husband based in Switzerland)
Favorite surface is hard; favorite shot is forehand
Speaks Russian, English, Italian
Other sports interests include swimming, basketball
Enjoys pop and rap music; favorite movie is Top Gun
In 2004, received grant from Boris Yeltsin Fund; together with Kleybanova, invited to tea with the former Russian President.

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