Personal

Coached by Dmitry Degtriarev; favorite surface is hard court ... Married Michael Baranov in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, September 21, 1999 ... Father, Alexander, owns business; mother, Valentina, is a homemaker; brother, Dmitriy, is a student ... Birth country is Kazakhstan, located between Russia and Uzbekistan, bordering Caspian Sea ... Other sports interests include soccer and ice hockey; also enjoys swimming ... Interests outside of sports are in animals, music and reading (favorite book is Master and Margarita by H.Bulgakov) ... Also enjoys singing ... Favorite movies are comedies and dramas about life; favorite actor is John Travolta.

Career Highlights

SINGLES
Winner (3): 2004 - Forest Hills; 1997 - Gold Coast; 1993 - Montpellier, ITF/Bastad-SUI; 1992 - ITF/Vilamoura-POR.
Finalist (5): 2004 - Montréal; 2003 - Doha; 2000 - Leipzig; 1999 - Strasbourg; 1995 - Oklahoma City.

DOUBLES
Winner (27): 2007 - Hobart (w/Vesnina); 2006 - Auckland (w/Zvonareva), Warsaw (w/Myskina); 2005 - Gold Coast (w/Mag.Maleeva), Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (w/Husarova), Berlin (w/Zvonareva), Kolkata (w/Myskina); 2004 - Gold Coast, Doha (both w/Kuznetsova), Linz (w/Husarova); 2003 - Hobart (w/Black), Hyderabad (w/Tulyaganova); 2002 - Sarasota (w/Dokic); 2001 - Hobart, Hamburg, Rome, Birmingham, San Diego, New Haven (all w/Black), Leipzig (w/Tauziat); 1999 - Sydney, Strasbourg (both w/Sugiyama), Hilton Head (w/Novotna); 1998 - Gold Coast, Luxembourg, Leipzig, Philadelphia (all w/Sugiyama).

MIXED DOUBLES
Winner (2): 2007 - Australian Open (w/Nestor); 2002 - Wimbledon (w/Bhupathi).

ADDITIONAL
Russian Fed Cup Team, 1995-97, 1999-2004; Russian Olympic Team, 1996, 2000, 2004.

Career in Review

1989 - Debuted at Moscow qualifying.

1990 - Fell 2r in Moscow qualifying.

1991 - Fell 1r in St. Petersburg.

1992 - Won first ITF Circuit title at ITF/Vilamoura-POR.

1993 - Won two titles, incl. first Tour title at Montpellier (d. Van Roost in final); won ITF/Bastad-SUI; as qualifier ranked No.244, d. No.15 Tauziat en route to San Diego QF.

1994 - First Grand Slam 4r appearance at US Open; 3r in debut Australian Open; reached QF in Moscow and 3r at Los Angeles and MontrTal [Canadian Open].

1995 - Reached second Tour final, l. to Schultz-McCarthy at Oklahoma City; collected three Top 20 wins.

1996 - Collected three Top 10 wins: world No.4 and defending champion Pierce at Australian Open 2r (earliest departure of Australian Open defending champion in Open Era), No.2 Sßnchez-Vicario in German Open QF, and No.10 MJ Fernandez en route to Oakland QF; SF at Oklahoma City, German Open and QuTbec City; 4r at Australian Open and Wimbledon.

1997 - Won second career title at Gold Coast (d. Sugiyama in final); QF at Hannover and Stanford and 4r at Indian Wells and Miami (l. to Hingis in 3s).

1998 - Reached 3r at Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon; pushed Graf to 3s in Philadelphia 2r; w/Sugiyama, won four Tour doubles titles, the first of her career and qualified for season-ending Championships for first time.

1999 - First Top 20 finish; reached Strasbourg final (l. to Capriati) and Hannover SF (l. Novotna); came within a tie-break of defeating Graf in Tokyo [Pan Pacific]; reached 4r at US Open and 3r at Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon; qualified for first season-ending Championships in singles and second in doubles; reached career-high No.15 on October 2.

2000 - Reached first Grand Slam QF at Australian Open (d. No.3 seed S.Williams in 4r, l. to No.10 Martfnez 97 third set); consecutive 4r at Tier I events, Indian Wells (l. to No.6 Pierce 75 third set) and Miami (l. to No.2 Davenport); runner-up at Leipzig (l. to Clijsters in 3s) and SF at Amelia Island (d. Pierce); US Open doubles runner-up (w/Black); qualified for season-ending Championships for second time in singles (l. 1r to Martfnez in 3s); also qualified in doubles for first time w/Black (third overall).

2001 - Won seven doubles titles, reached one singles SF and mixed doubles SF at Roland Garros and Wimbledon; reached Birmingham QF and Eastbourne SF; in Fed Cup competition, clinched RussiaÆs win over Slovakia in final doubles rubber (w/Petrova) to put Russia into final round; after winning New Haven doubles (w/Black), moved to a career-high No.4 doubles ranking; made third 4r appearance at US Open, l. to Davenport (won second set 60, DavenportÆs first 60 set lost since 1996 US Open); qualified for season-ending Championships in doubles for fourth straight year (second year w/Black) and reached final, l. to top seeds Raymond/Stubbs in 3s; finished season at career-high No.4 doubles ranking.

2002 - Upset world No.5 Clijsters en route to Wimbledon QF, the second Grand Slam singles QF of her career, won mixed doubles (w/Bhupathi) to capture her first Grand Slam title, and reached doubles SF (w/Black); reached Hawaii QF (l. to doubles partner Black); recorded first win over Martfnez in seven matches at Tokyo [Princess Cup], then upset Sßnchez-Vicario to reach QF (l. to Clijsters); won doubles title at Sarasota (w/Dokic) and runner-up at Scottsdale and Eastbourne (both w/Black); doubles SF at five other events, incl. US Open (w/Black); qualified for season-ending Championships (w/Black) for third consecutive year (fifth appearance overall), finishing runners-up for second straight year (l. to Dementieva/Husarova in 3s).

2003 - Ninth consecutive Top 50 finish; reached first singles final in over two years at Doha, l. to compatriot Myskina in first-ever all-Russian Tour singles final (1972 all-USSR final at Eastern Grass Court Championships, Morozova d. Kroshina); ranking broke Top 30 for first time since October 2001; singles SF at Hobart and doubles champion (w/Black); also reached QF at Berlin (l. to Capriati) and San Diego (l. to Kuznetsova); second doubles title of year at Hyderabad (w/Tulyaganova); Roland Garros mixed doubles runner-up (w/Bhupathi).

2004 - Season highlighted by first Tier I singles final, third career Tour title and solid doubles season; as world No.39 at MontrTal [Canadian Open], became lowest-ranked finalist in eventÆs history, d. four Top 20 players to reach final (No.15 Petrova, No.17 Schiavone, No.7 Capriati in QF and No.4 Myskina in SF for eighth career Top 5 win), falling to No.3 Mauresmo; at Forest Hills, captured first title in over seven-and-a-half years, the second-longest gap in Tour history (d. Benesova in final); QF at Filderstadt (l. to No.4 Myskina in 3s); in Grand Slam doubles (w/Kuznetsova), finished runners-up at Australian Open, Roland Garros and US Open (l. each time to top seeds Ruano Pascual/Sußrez), and QF at Wimbledon (l. to eventual champions Black/Stubbs); in 23 events with various partners, won titles at Gold Coast (w/Kuznetsova in debut partnership), Doha (w/Kuznetsova) and Linz (w/Husarova), losing in eight finals and four SF (incl. season-ending Championships w/Kuznetsova, LikhovtsevaÆs seventh straight appearance in doubles event there) and in 2r at Olympics (w/Kuznetsova); reached career-high No.3 in doubles on September 27, winning a career-best 59 matches; w/Kuznetsova in Fed Cup, d. Molik/Stubbs in 4-1 1r win vs. Australia, d. Dulko/Tarabini in 4-1 QF win vs. Argentina and d. Meusburger/Wartusch in 5-0 SF win over Austria (Russia d. defending champions France in Final 3-2 for its first Fed Cup title); ret. in Birmingham 1r vs. Golovin with viral illness, withdrew from Philadelphia for rest and recovery.

2005 - Best singles season to date for Tour veteran, highlighted by career-first Grand Slam SF at Roland Garros, best year-end ranking, also four doubles titles; compiled best-ever run in 46th career major at Roland Garros, reaching SF (as No.16 seed, upset world No.5 and No.4 seed Dementieva 75 third set en route, losing to No.21 seed Pierce); also SF at Kolkata (as No.2 seed, l. to No.7 seed Sprem in 3s); reached two Tier I QF, at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (l. to eventual champion Sharapova) and Moscow (d. Dushevina in 1r for 400th career match win, d. world No.10 Schnyder for second Top 10 victory of season en route, then squandered 6-0 third-set tie-break lead in 75 46 76(6) loss to eventual champion Pierce); three 4r finishes, at Miami (l. to three-time defending champion S.Williams in 3s), Wimbledon (l. to Mauresmo) and US Open (as No.19 seed, saved 5 mp to d. No.13 seed Myskina 06 63 76(6) in 3r, falling to Mauresmo), also three 3r finishes, incl. Australian Open (l. to Sprem); returned to Top 20 for first time in over four years after Tokyo [Pan Pacific] in February, and returned to career-high No.15 for first time in over five years after Roland Garros, finishing season at No.17, highest year-end singles ranking to date; another solid year in doubles, winning 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th Tour doubles titles at Gold Coast (w/Maleeva), Tier I Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (w/Husarova), Tier I Berlin (w/Zvonareva) and Kolkata (w/Myskina), also runner-up at Eastbourne and Stanford (both w/Zvonareva) and six other SF (all w/Zvonareva), incl. season-ending Championships (qualified in 4th place among active teams; l. to Black/Stubbs); surpassed $5 million in career earnings; withdrew from Doha with illness, Warsaw with right wrist injury, Birmingham with left thigh injury, Toronto [Canadian Open] with gastrointestinal illness, and retired during Znrich 1r match w/left hamstring strain.

2006 - Twelfth consecutive Top 50 finish, reaching QF at Tier I Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (as No.7 seed, l. to No.4 seed Myskina) and at back-to-back grass court tournaments in Birmingham (as No.4 seed, upset by eventual finalist Jackson) and Eastbourne (d. No.8 seed Hantuchova before falling to No.3 seed and eventual champion Henin-Hardenne; win over world No.18 Hantuchova was her lone Top 20 victory of season); 3r three times, incl. at Wimbledon (as No.25 seed, l. to No.7 seed Dementieva) and US Open (as No.32 seed, l. to No.3 seed and eventual champion Sharapova; was playing her record 50th consecutive Grand Slam singles main draw, tied for first among active players w/Sugiyama); 2r six times, incl. Australian Open (as No.18 seed, upset by Ruano Pascual) and Moscow (l. to Petrova 63 75, having led 3-1 first set and 5-2 second set); fell 1r seven times, incl. Roland Garros (was a semifinalist year prior; as No.18 seed, upset by Sprem); withdrew from Charleston w/left Achilles tendonitis, from Bali w/right ankle sprain, and Hasselt w/left wrist tendonitis.

2007 - Fifteenth consecutive Top 100 finish in season highlighted by QF runs at Antwerp (l. to Golovin) and Birmingham (d. No.12 seed A.Radwanska en route; l. to top seed Sharapova); reached 3r once, at Indian Wells (d. No.26 seed Poutchkova en route; l. to No.2 seed Kuznetsova); reached 2r six times, incl. Roland Garros (l. to No.24 seed Medina Garrigues), Wimbledon (l. to No.10 seed Hantuchova) and US Open (l. to No.27 seed Zvonareva); fell 1r nine times, incl. Australian Open (l. to qualifier Vakulenko in 3s), Dubai (ret. vs. Dushevina w/viral illness) and Forest Hills (ret. vs. Cohen w/left lower leg strain); reached SF or better seven times in doubles, incl. winning 27th career Tour doubles title at Hobart (w/Vesnina) and runner-up finishes at Antwerp, Warsaw (both w/Vesnina) and Portoroz (w/Klepac); surpassed $6 million in career prize money, currently No.27 on all-time list (and fourth Russian; trails No.14 Sharapova, No.19 Dementieva and No.20 Kuznetsova).