.JPG) Puchkova at the2008 Wimbledon Championships | |
| Country (sports) |  Russia (2002–) Belarus (1990s-) |
|---|---|
| Residence | Miami Shores, Florida, U.S. |
| Born | (1987-09-27)27 September 1987 (age 37) Moscow, Russia |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Turned pro | 2002 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | $846,870 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 374–320 |
| Career titles | 7ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 32 (11 June 2007) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 2R (2007, 2008) |
| French Open | 2R (2007) |
| Wimbledon | 2R (2013) |
| US Open | 3R (2012) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 59–87 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 247 (13 August 2012) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open | 1R (2007, 2008) |
| French Open | 1R (2007) |
| Wimbledon | 1R (2007) |
| US Open | 1R (2007) |
Olga Alekseyevna Puchkova (alsoPoutchkova; Russian:Ольга Алексеевна Пучкова; Belarusian:Вольга Аляксееўна Пучкова; born 27 September 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. As a junior, she played for Belarus,[1] and was sometimes listed as Belarusian professional.[2]
Olga Puchkova, coached by her father Alex Poutchkov, was No. 1 in the world in the ITF U12 rankings in 1999.[1] She won the U12 category in the Eddie Herr in 1999, where she beatShahar Pe'er 6–2, 6–2 in the final,[3] and a week later was runner up in the U12 category at theOrange Bowl, where qualifierTatiana Golovin beat her 6–4, 3–6, 6–4.[4]
Puchkova made her debut on the U18 circuit 13 August 2000 at the USTA Junior International Grass Court Championships where she was defeated in the first round.[5] Just a week later, at the USTA Junior International Hard Court Championships she secured her first win in a U18 doubles match playing alongside Brazilian Caroline Neves.[6] Alongside AmericanNicole Pitts, she won her first U18 tournament (out of two in doubles) in Ecuador, January 2001.[7] She won her only U18 title in singles at the US Junior International Hard Court Championships in 2003, beating Jessi Robinson 6–2, 6–2 in the final.[8]
Puchkova started herITF Women's Circuit career in March 2002 when she played in four tournaments in Australia, reaching the quarterfinals atWarrnambool andBenalla.[9] In 2003, she reached the final at Miami in January and the semifinal atHouston in June, and won her first professional tournament atBaltimore in July 2003 when she beatJewel Peterson 6–2, 6–4 in the final.[10] She won her second professional title 11 July 2004 inCollege Park, Maryland.[11][12] She defeated top-seededMaureen Drake in the second round andRossana de los Ríos in the final.[13] InPelham, Alabama, she reached another final, but was defeated by Slovak Zuzana Zemenová in three sets.[14] She reached her fifth ITF final in August 2005, beatingStéphanie Dubois en route. In the final,Ashley Harkleroad was too strong as she beat Puchkova to claim the Washington, D.C. title.[15]
In 2006, she made herWTA Tour main-draw debut inHobart, Australia as a qualifier; however she lost in the first round toMara Santangelo.[16] Afterwards she tried to qualify for the2006 Australian Open, but failed. She returned to the ITF Circuit and reached another final inHammond, Louisiana at the end of March. She comfortably won the final, beatingAndrea Hlaváčková for her third ITF title.[17]
Her first WTA Tour main-draw win inBirmingham followed in June, beating fellow qualifierViktoriya Kutuzova. She then lost her second-round match against fourth seed fellow RussianElena Likhovtseva.[16] Back in the ITF Circuit, she cruised to the final inFelixstowe's grass tournament, where she turned out to be way too strong for AustralianTrudi Musgrave who was beaten in straight sets.[18] As the second seed in theBronx, New York, she won yet another ITF title. Top seedMelinda Czink was already beaten in the first round by DutchElise Tamaëla. Puchkova herself won all her matches and faced BelarusianTatiana Poutchek in the final, which was easily won by Puchkova.[19]
After failing to qualify for the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon earlier in 2006, she qualified for theUS Open, beating Virginie Pichet,Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro andRyōko Fuda.[20] She then facedMarion Bartoli in the first round and was not able to excel against the 26th seed (6–4, 6–0).[21]
Puchkova reached her first tour final inKolkata, India, in September 2006, losing toMartina Hingis but beating seventh seedNicole Pratt en route.[22] A week previously she had reached her first Tour singles quarterfinal at the Tier IIIBali, Indonesia notching up her first top 20 victory along the way when beatingAna Ivanovic.[23]
At the end of the season, Puchkova reached her second career final inQuebec City, Canada. She lost toMarion Bartoli 0–6, 0–6, becoming the first woman since 1993 to lose by that scoreline in a tour final, although she was injured during the final.[24]
Puchkova made her top 100 debut in 2006, and peaked at a high of world No. 32 on 17 June 2007.[16] However, her results soon began to tail off, and she didn't reach another quarterfinal until her last tournament of the 2007 season in Quebec City. Prior to that, she failed to win back-to-back matches on the season, although after the Bell Challenge she managed to reach the final of an ITF event inPittsburgh, losing toAshley Harkleroad in three sets. By the end of the season, Puchkova's ranking had fallen to 92.
At the2008 Australian Open, she won her first-round match, but lost 1–6, 5–7 to world No. 1,Justine Henin, in the second round. Her year would improve slightly as she finished runner-up in theCharlottesville ITF event, falling toAlexis King ranked 640 in the world. She had to attempt to qualify for theFrench Open before falling to eventual quarterfinalistCarla Suárez Navarro of Spain in the qualifying playoff round. She then fell at the same stage inWimbledon qualifying toEva Hrdinová. She failed to qualify for another main draw of a tour-level tournament in 2008, but did receive direct entry into the Bell Challenge, before losing in the second round toMelanie Oudin. Her last event ended in a first-round loss inSan Diego, and her ranking dipped to 159. She went 15–28 on the season.
She fell in the final round of qualifying yet again in the2009 Australian Open, and didn't enter into a WTA tournament until she was given the opportunity to qualify for the Bell Challenge. She did manage to qualify, but lost toAmra Sadiković in the opening main-draw round. 19–22 by the end of the season, Puchkova's woes continued and she was ranked 226 in her last tournament of the year inToronto.
After a couple of years struggling with injuries and personal problems, Puchkova managed to finish 2012 in top 100 with a semifinal in Baku and reaching third round at the2012 US Open. In 2013, she experienced some tough draws and had four first-round losses. But she turned tables around at the2013 Brasil Tennis Cup, where she reached the final, beatingVenus Williams en route. She lost toMonica Niculescu, in a three-setter.
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
| Tournament | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | W–L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | Q1 | 2R | 2R | Q3 | A | A | Q2 | 1R | A | 5–6 |
| French Open | Q2 | 2R | Q3 | Q1 | A | A | Q2 | 1R | A | 5–6 |
| Wimbledon | Q3 | 1R | Q3 | Q1 | A | A | Q1 | 2R | A | 5–6 |
| US Open | 1R | 1R | Q1 | A | A | A | 3R | 1R | A | 8–5 |
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 6–11 |
| Legend |
|---|
| International (0–3) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Sep 2006 | Sunfeast Open, India | Tier III | Hard (i) |  Martina Hingis | 0–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Nov 2006 | Bell Challenge, Canada | Tier III | Hard (i) |  Marion Bartoli | 0–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 0–3 | Mar 2013 | Brasil Tennis Cup | International | Hard |  Monica Niculescu | 2–6, 6–4, 4–6 |
| Legend |
|---|
| $100,000 tournaments |
| $75,000 tournaments |
| $50,000 tournaments |
| $25,000 tournaments |
| $10/15,000 tournaments |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Jan 2003 | ITF Miami, United States | 10,000 | Hard |  Anžela Žguna | 4–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Jul 2003 | ITF Baltimore, U.S. | 10,000 | Hard |  Jewel Peterson | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Win | 2–1 | Jul 2004 | ITF College Park, U.S. | 25,000 | Hard |  Rossana de los Ríos | 7–5, 4–6, 6–2 |
| Loss | 2–2 | Sep 2004 | ITF Pelham, U.S. | 25,000 | Clay |  Zuzana Zemenová | 6–4, 4–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 2–3 | Aug 2005 | ITF Washington, U.S. | 75,000 | Hard | Ashley Harkleroad | 2–6, 1–6 |
| Win | 3–3 | Mar 2006 | ITF Hammond, U.S. | 25,000 | Hard |  Andrea Hlaváčková | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 4–3 | Jul 2006 | ITF Felixstowe, UK | 25,000 | Grass |  Trudi Musgrave | 6–2, 6–1 |
| Win | 5–3 | Aug 2006 | Bronx Open, U.S. | 50,000 | Hard | Tatiana Poutchek | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Loss | 5–4 | Nov 2007 | ITF Pittsburgh, U.S. | 75,000 | Hard (i) | Ashley Harkleroad | 6–4, 4–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 5–5 | Apr 2008 | ITF Charlottesville, U.S. | 50,000 | Clay | Alexis King | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 6–5 | Apr 2011 | ITF Minsk, Belarus | 25,000 | Hard (i) |  Nadiia Kichenok | 6–2, 7–5 |
| Loss | 6–6 | Sep 2011 | ITF Redding, U.S. | 25,000 | Hard | Julia Boserup | 4–6, 6–2, 3–6 |
| Win | 7–6 | Apr 2012 | ITF Namangan, Uzbekistan | 25,000 | Hard |  Donna Vekić | 3–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| Result | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | Oct 2002 | ITF Minsk, Belarus | 10,000 | Carpet (i) | Tatsiana Uvarova | Daria ChemardaVera Dushevina | 1–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | Mar 2017 | ITF Nanjing, China | 15,000 | Hard | Angelina Gabueva |  Sun XuliuSun Ziyue | 3–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | Mar 2017 | ITF Heraklion, Greece | 15,000 | Hard | Angelina Gabueva |  Charlotte Robillard-MilletteCarol Zhao | 6–7(2), 6–4, [5–10] |
