Nadia Petrova (Nadézhda Petróva; born June 8, 1982,
Moscow, Russia) is a professional tennis player from
Russia.
Petrova's career high ranking is World No. 3, a
ranking she achieved after beating Justine Henin in
the final of the Qatar Telecom German Open held in
Berlin in May 2006. She has reached the French Open
semi-finals twice in her career, once in 2003 and
again in 2005. As of March 3, 2008, she is the No.
16 player in the world.
Petrova was born in Moscow. Her parents were both
very athletic - her father Viktor was a leading
hammer thrower, while her mother Nadezhda Ilyina won
a bronze medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics in the
400 meter relay. Both her parents are still
athletics coaches. As a child, Nadia did a lot of
travelling around the world with her parents. She
eventually settled in Egypt, where she trained with
Mohammed Seif and her parents.
