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Julia Olehivna Vakulenko (; born 10 July 1983) is a Ukraine-born former tennis player. She achieved her career-high WTA rankings of No. 32 in November 2007.
In April 2008, Vakulenko renounced her Ukrainian citizenship, and then announced her decision to acquire the citizenship of Spain where she's lived for the last ten years. Известная теннисистка отказалась от украинского гражданства, korrespondent.net, April 23, 2008 Tennis – One of Ukraine's top players, Yulia Vakulenko, has opted to take out Spanish citizenship, Reuters, Apr 23, 2008
Julia became Kim Clijsters' last opponent in her professional career (before Clijsters' return in 2009). Vakulenko won 7–6(3), 6–3 in the second round of J&S Cup in Warsaw, Poland on 3 May 2007. This earned her the nickname "Kimmie Killer".
A week later, Julia defeated world No. 3, Amélie Mauresmo, at the German Open in Berlin, 2–6, 6–1, 6–2 (her career best), and then defeated Dinara Safina, 6–3, 5–7, 6–3, before retiring in the first set in the semifinals to eventual champion Ana Ivanovic due to an injury.
On 28 August 2007, in the first round of the US Open, Julia defeated ninth seed Daniela Hantuchová, 6–4, 3–6, 6–1. She eventually reached the fourth round, her best performance at a major, before falling to Ágnes Szávay.
At the final event of the season, the Bell Challenge held in Quebec City, Vakulenko reached the first WTA Tour final of her career. En route, she beat Rossana de los Ríos, home favourite Stéphanie Dubois, Olga Govortsova and Julie Ditty. In the final, she lost 4–6, 1–6 to three-time Grand Slam champion Lindsay Davenport, who was playing in only her third event since giving birth.
After changing of her citizenship from Ukraine to Spain in April 2008, she planned to play for Spain in the Fed Cup, but wasn't able to compete in the 2008 Olympics due to lack of time to be included in Spain's application.
WTA Tour finals
Singles: 1 (runner-up)
Grand Slam Tier I Tier II Tier III, IV & V (0–1) Loss Nov 2007 Bell Challenge, Canada Tier III Carpet (i) Lindsay Davenport 4–6, 1–6
ITF finals
$75,000 tournaments $50,000 tournaments $25,000 tournaments $10,000 tournaments
Singles (7–6)
Loss 1. 28 September 1998 Lleida, Spain Clay Mariam Ramón Climent 1–6, 3–6 Win 2. 6 December 1998 Mallorca, Spain Clay Laura Pena 6–4, 6–1 Loss 3. 3 April 2000 Dinan, France Clay Melanie Schnell 6–2, 1–6, 2–6 Loss 4. 18 June 2000 Lenzerheide, Switzerland Clay Kira Nagy 2–6, 6–3, 6–7 Loss 5. 10 July 2000 Getxo, Spain Clay María José Martínez Sánchez 4–6, 0–6 Loss 6. 5 August 2001 Saint-Gaudens, France Clay Céline Beigbeder 4–6, 1–6 Win 7. 17 November 2002 Deauville, France Clay (i) Virginie Pichet 6–2, 6–1 Win 8. 3 December 2002 Daytona Beach, United States Hard Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6–4, 6–0 Win 9. 29 September 2003 Girona, Spain Clay Barbora Strýcová 7–5, 2–0 ret. Win 10. 8 February 2009 Rancho Mirage, United States Hard Lauren Albanese 6–0, 6–1 Loss 11. 16 February 2009 Surprise, United States Hard Yanina Wickmayer 7–6(0), 3–6, 3–4 ret. Win 12. 27 June 2009 Périgueux, France Clay Sophie Ferguson 6–2, 7–5 Win 13. 10 August 2009 Koksijde, Belgium Clay Iryna Brémond 7–5, 6–1
Doubles (0–1)
Loss 23 November 2003 Barcelona, Spain Clay Núria Roig Marta Fraga
Adriana González-Peñas3–6, 3–6
Singles performance timeline
Grand Slam tournaments Australian Open Q1 A Q3 2R A A 2R 1R A Q1 2–3 French Open A Q2 3R 1R A 3R 1R 1R Q1 A 4–5 Wimbledon Q3 Q2 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R Q1 A 1–6 US Open Q3 A 2R 2R A A 4R 1R Q1 A 5–4 GS Win–loss 0–0 0–0 3–3 2–4 1–1 2–2 4–4 0–4 0–0 0–0 12–18 Tier I tournaments Doha1 Not Tier I or Was Not Held A 0–0 Indian Wells A A 1R A A 1R A 0–2 Miami Masters A A 1R A A 3R A 2–2 Charleston 1R A A A 3R 1R A 2–3 Berlin A A 1R A 2R SF A 5–3 Rome Masters 2R A A A A A 1R 1–2 Canada Masters A A A A A 1R 0–1 Tokyo A A 1R A A A 0–1 Kremlin Cup A A A A A A 0–0 Acura Classic1 A A A A A 1R 0–1 Zurich Open1 A A A A A A 0–0 Tier II tournaments Amelia Island1 A A A A A 2R 1–1 Warsaw1 A A A 2R 2R 3R 4–3 Stanford1 A A A A A 1R 0–1 Los Angeles1 A A A A A 1R 0–1 Luxembourg1 A A A A A 1R 0–1 Stuttgart1 A A A A A 2R 1–1 Linz1 A A A A A QF 3–1 Tier III tournaments DFS Classic1 A A A A A 3R 2–1 Tier IV tournaments Hyderabad1 A 1R A A A A 0–1 Tier V tournaments Casablanca1 A A 1R A A A 0–1 Year-end ranking 209 73 129 185 120 32 N/A
Head-to-head record
Top 10 wins
Total 3 2007 1. Kim Clijsters No. 4 Warsaw Open Clay 2R 7–6(7–3), 6–3 No. 61 2. Amélie Mauresmo No. 3 German Open Clay 3R 2–6, 6–1, 6–2 No. 53 3. Dinara Safina No. 10 German Open Clay QF 6–3, 5–7, 6–3 No. 53
External links
Categories: 1983 Births, Living People, Spanish Female Tennis Players, Ukrainian Female Tennis Players, Ukrainian Expatriates In Spain, Ukrainian Emigrants To Spain, Naturalised Citizens Of Spain, People From Yalta, Spanish People Of Ukrainian Descent, Ukrainian People Of Spanish Descent, 21st-century Spanish Sportswomen, 21st-century Ukrainian Sportswomen
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