Personal

Coached by Larissa Prebrazhenskaya...Introduced to tennis by mother at age 7...Serves left-handed, but is ambidextrous and switches racquet hands to use two forehands and no backhand...Has baseline style; favorite surfaces are carpet and hard; favorite shot is her dropshot...Mother, Elena, is a teacher; father, Boris Kulikovsky, died in 1979...Self-described as a very open and sociable person who loves people...Superstition during tournaments is to eat the same breakfast each morning...Likes to go out with her friends or go to her grandmothers house...Favorite cities to visit are St. Petersburg, Russia, because it is the most beautiful city in the world, and Hilton Head, South Carolina, USA...Enjoys ice hockey and soccer...Graduated from high school in 1996...Admires her mothers strong strong character and Monica Seles for coming back to tennis...Favorite movies are Dangerous Minds and Soldier Jane; favorite actors are Michelle Pfeiffer and Keanu Reeves.

Career Highlights

SINGLES
Winner (0): 2002 - ITF/Orbetello-ITA; 2001 - ITF/Allenton-USTA; 1998 - ITF/Tbilisi-GEO; 1997 - ITF/Southampton-GBR; 1996 - ITF/Sheffield-GBR, ITF/Kiev-UKR, ITF/Sochi-RUS; 1995 - ITF/Lodz-POL, ITF/Bytom- POL Quarterfinalist (2): 1999 - Budapest; 1998 - Luxembourg.

DOUBLES
Winner (4): 2003 - Helsinki (w/Tatarkova); 2002 - Palermo (Sysoeva); 1999 - Budapest (w/Nacuk), Tashkent (w/Wartusch).
Finalist (6): 2003 - Hyderabad (w/Poutchek); 2002 - Warsaw (w/Talaja), Sopot (w/Sysoeva); 1999 - Knokke-Heist (w/Nacuk), Pattaya City (w/Wartusch); 1998 - Makarska (w/Kschwendt).
Semifinalist (2): 2003 - Canberra (w/Poutchek); 1998 - Istanbul (w/Lugina).

ADDITIONAL
Member of Russian Fed Cup Team 1998.

Career in Review

1993 - Debuted on ITF Circuit, playing four events (won one match)
1994 - In 10 ITF Circuit starts, reached one final, one SF and one QF
1995 - Debuted on WTA Tour in hometown (Moscow), falling 1r; won consecutive singles titles (in Poland), the first of her pro career
1996 - Lost 1r at Moscow (second effort there and only Tour appearance of 1996); launched new year with third career title on ITF Circuit and won two more consecutively later in season
1997 - Failed to qualify at Moscow and l. 1r at Pattaya, her two Tour starts for the year; competed at 13 ITF Circuit events, four as a qualifier, winning sixth career title and reaching one other final
1998 - At Luxembourg, as a qualifier, reached first WTA Tour QF, stunning world No. 20 Majoli in 2r; l. 1r at Makarska Open; made Grand Slam debut at US Open (as a qualifier; l. 2r); won seventh ITF Circuit event of career
1999 - Reached QF at Budapest, upsetting world No. 24, No. 2 seeded Nagyova in 1r, and won career-first WTA Tour doubles title; endured 1r losses at Roland Garros and Wimbledon (her debuts there); failed to qualify for US Open; won second WTA Tour doubles title of career (and year) at Tashkent, and was doubles finalist at Knokke-Heist and Pattaya; reached one SF on ITF Circuit
2000 - Attempted to qualify at 10 WTA Tour events, succeeding once (at Tashkent, l. 1r); reached two ITF Circuit QF
2001 - Qualified for three WTA Tour events, including the US Open (won 1r match); won eighth ITF Circuit singles title (first in two years)
2002 - At Warsaw, qualified w/Talaja and advanced to final, losing to Kostanic/Nagyova; was her first 2002 doubles competition; won ninth title on ITF Circuit at ITF/Orbetello-ITA; won doubles title in Palermo with Sysoeva, her third overall and first in three years; at Sopot, reached second consecutive doubles final with Sysoeva, falling to Kuznetsova/Sanchez-Vicario
2003 - Made Australian Open debut and competed in first Grand Slam main draw in two-and-a-half years; l. 1r to Foretz in 3s; doubles finalist w/Poutchek at Hyderabad after winning SF 64 67 76 over Li/Sun, l. final to No. 1 seeds; in singles lost 1r to An. Serra Zanetti 67(10) 75 60; broke into Top 100 (at No. 96) for first time in March; won doubles (w/Perebiynis) at ITF/Saint-Gaudens-FRA; reached 2r at second Roland Garros appearance (first since 1999), eliminating WC Beigbeder before l. to No. 15 seed Mag. Maleeva; l. 1r at Wimbledon (first in four years) to Widjaja; won Helsinki doubles title (first in 2003; fourth in career) w/Tatarkova
2004 - As world No.190 at Hyderabad, l. 1r to No.54 Tanasugarn; failed to qualify at four Tour events and Australian Open; won one ITF Circuit doubles title