Nadia Petrova, A Player to Watch–Again

This article is part of On the Baseline’s 2009 Players to Watch Series. Please join us for a special look at several rising and resurgent stars on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

Way back when, some people thought that Nadia Petrova would be the first Russian to break through in a big way. She had almost everything—a big serve, solid groundstrokes, and quite a bit of finesse at the net.

In 2003, she reached the semifinals at Roland Garros, knocking off Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati on the way. That year, she also reached the final at Linz, played in several semifinals, and won some doubles tournaments.

But it was Maria Sharapova, of course, who won Wimbledon in 2004. That same year, Anastasia Myskina won the French Open, and Svetlana Kuznetsova won the U.S. Open. Elena Dementieva was the finalist in both the French and the U.S.

So where was Petrova?

She was fading away, and it appeared obvious that she was fading because of a lack of focus and mental toughness.

Petrova actually did not win a tournament of any kind until the very last stage of the 2005 season, and—though the tennis media has chosen to ignore it—that victory was somewhat of a gift.

I happened to be in Europe during the 2005 Generali Ladies Linz, so I watched the final on Eurosport. Petrova played Patty Schnyder, who took the first set easily. Petrova then took the second, and during the third, Schnyder injured her hand. She then had to play the remainder of the match with one hand, and it was no surprise that she lost it.

Petrova might have won, anyway—she was playing well—but we’ll never know.

At any rate, this victory changed Nadia Petrova. It must have been a tremendous relief to finally win a tournament, and the muttering, racquet-smashing Petrova (a persona totally at odds with her off-court demeanor) got down to business in 2006. She won Doha, then went on a clay court tear, winning Amelia Island, Charleston and Berlin.

By this time, she looked like a very serious contender to win the French Open, but a terrible thing happened. Petrova injured her hip during a pre-French Open practice session, and consequently lost in the first round.

This very unfortunate situation seemed to knock the wind out of her, as it would just about any player who was poised to win one of the majors. She began to suffer from various injuries, and to hire and fire coaches faster than most of us could follow.

In 2007, she looked frazzled and burned out, and at one point, she said, with characteristic candor, that she had lost her motivation to play tennis, and was doing some serious sorting out of her future.

At some point, Petrova decided to stick with tennis for a while, and, as the 2008 season began, we saw flashes of the 2003 and 2006 Petrova. She has stuck with the same coach for a while now, and she is playing well again. The hip injury returns now and then, but things are generally better for Petrova. She reached the final at Eastbourne, and she won Cincinnati. She continues to do well in doubles.

Petrova finished eleventh in the race to the Sony Ericsson Championships, and is now ranked eleventh in the world. She was the maroon group alternate in Doha, and—on her way to the broadcast booth to do some commentating—she was called on to play a match against Elena Dementieva when Serena Williams withdrew. Petrova lost the match, but she played very well, stayed calm, and appeared to be enjoying herself a lot.

Unfortunately, there is more bad luck for Petrova, and the 2009 season has not even begun. She was scheduled to begin her 2009 schedule at the ASB Classic in New Zealand, but she has contracted viral meningitis, and her Australian Open participation is in question. However, it should not take that long for Petrova to make a full recovery, and if she stays relatively healthy, there is a good chance that she can return to her former status in 2009. She likes hard courts, she says, but she really excels on clay courts.

She has coaching consistency now, she has taken control of her court anger, she has a strong serve, and she brings a lot of doubles expertise with her every time she plays a singles match. Petrova has it all, but has not always brought it all together at big occasions.

Nadia Petrova is, once again, definitely a player to watch.

Diane Elayne Dees publishes Women Who Serve, a blog about women’s professional tennis. Diane is a life-long fan of women’s tennis; her interest in the sport began when she first saw Evonne Goolagong play. Diane attends the Family Circle Cup in Charleston every year, and has a fondness for clay court tennis, which she developed while following the career of the great Chris Evert.