venus williams blog: alla kudryavtseva sports star pictures biography

Alla Alexandrovna Kudryavtseva (Russian А́лла Алекса́ндровна Кудря́вцева, born November 3, 1987 in Moscow) is a professional tennis player from Russia. She currently lives in Moscow, where she is coached by Nick Rybakov. Her father Alexander was a world champion Greco-Roman wrestler in the 1980s and her grandfather a Russian weightlifter of some note [1].
Her highest singles ranking as of October 4, 2010 World Number 56. Also on and as of June 26, 2007, her career-high doubles ranking is: World Number 73. As of June 14, 2010, Kudryavtseva is ranked World No. 85 at singles. Kudryavtseva has won $US952,589 in prize money, 1 singles title on the WTA tour, and 1 singles title and 6 doubles titles playing for the ITF. She was a finalist at the Orange Bowl Championships, as a junior.
Her main sponsor is Wilson and she also has an endorsement deal with Diadora.
Kudryavtseva's first Grand Slam tournament, competing in the main draw, was the 2007 Australian Open. She defeated Finland's Emma Laine in the first round 4–6, 6–2, 9–7, and then was defeated by her lifetime heroine, Martina Hingis, in straight sets, 6–2, 6–2 in the second round.
In 2007, Kudryavtseva defeated 29th seed Gisela Dulko 7–5, 1–6, 8–6 to reach the third round of Roland Garros, where she was defeated by second seed Maria Sharapova in straight sets 6–1, 6–4. After this match, she reached her new career high of #67.
At her first Wimbledon, in 2007, she lost against the eventual champion Venus Williams, 2–6, 6–3, 7–5.
During the 2008 Wimbledon, Kudryavtseva shocked the tennis world by beating fellow Russian and 3rd seed Maria Sharapova in the second round in straight sets 6–2 and 6–4. Afterwards, she joked "It's very pleasant to beat Maria... Why? Well, I don't like her outfit." (Sharapova wore a tuxedo-like outfit during the game [2].) She lost to Safina in the first round of the 2009 Australian Open.
At the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, she lost to #4 Elena Dementieva in the first round. And she lost at the second round of the Australian open 2010 of Agnieszka Radwańska with 6-0 and 6-2
In 2010, she reached the third round of the AEGON Classic in Birmingham, before losing to Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-1.
She reached her first WTA final at the 2010 Guangzhou International Women's Open but lost to top seed Jarmila Groth 6-1, 6-4. Her good form continued and she won her first WTA singles title a week later, defeating Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-4 at the 2010 Tashkent Open.

alla kudryavtseva