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Nadia Petrova
Nadia Petrova
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.
Nadia Petrova
Nadia Petrova
Nadia Petrova