Tatiana Golovin

Tatiana Golovin

Country (sports)	France
Residence	London, England, United Kingdom
Born	(1988-01-25) January 25, 1988 Moscow, Soviet Union
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro	2002
Retired	Inactive (last match: 2008)
Plays	Right (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$1,923,053
Singles
Career record	165–93
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 12 (February 4, 2008)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	4R (2004)
French Open	3R (2005)
Wimbledon	4R (2004)
US Open	QF (2006)
Doubles
Career record	21–32
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 91 (August 13, 2007)
Last updated on: Oct 15, 2007.

Tatiana Golovin (Russian: Татья́на Голови́на; born January 25, 1988) is an inactive French professional tennis player. She is best known for her explosive forehand, which was said to be one of the best at the time. She notably won the 2004 French Open mixed doubles event with Richard Gasquet, and reached the singles quarterfinal at the 2006 U.S. Open, losing to the eventual champion Maria Sharapova. The 36-year-old's highest singles ranking to date is 12. However, just as she began experiencing success, in 2008, she was diagnosed with lower back inflammation and was forced to stop playing competitive tennis indefinitely.

Golovin spent six years at Nick Bollettieri's tennis camp in Bradenton, Florida. She is currently coached by former World No. 1 Mats Wilander, having previously been coached by Brad Gilbert and Dean Goldfine.

Career review

Tour debut (2002–2003)

Golovin made her ITF Circuit debut at Cagnes-sur-Mer (France) in 2002. She played in three more ITF events (including one semifinal) later that year, but she failed to qualify for the French Open.

In 2003, Golovin won her first WTA Tour main draw match at Indian Wells against No.146 Gisela Dulko (losing in the second round to Italian Francesca Schiavone). Golovin lost in the first round at Miami, Strasbourg and Roland Garros. She also played in four ITF Circuit events.

2004

At the Australian Open, Golovin (as No.354, with wild card) upset No.14 seed Anna Smashnova in the second round and No.23 seed Lina Krasnoroutskaya in the third round (on her 16th birthday), before falling to No.25 seed Lisa Raymond in the fourth round. It was just her second Grand Slam tournament and fifth Tour event she entered, and afterwards, on February 2, she rose to No.136 in the WTA ranking.

At Roland Garros, Golovin won the mixed doubles trophy with Richard Gasquet, as a Wild Card team, defeating Cara Black/Wayne Black. They became the youngest champions in 23 years (16 for Golovin, 17 for Gasquet). At Wimbledon, she reached the fourth round, with wins over Alina Jidkova, Francesca Schiavone, and Emmanuelle Gagliardi, before falling to World No. 10 Serena Williams.

Golovin reached the semifinal at the Paris Indoors, losing to Mary Pierce, after beating world No.10 Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinal for her first Top 10 win. In her first Tour grass court main draw at Birmingham, Golovin reached her first Tour singles final, which she lost to Maria Sharapova in 3 sets. Golovin reached her first Tier I quarterfinal in Montreal at the Rogers Cup, losing to Vera Zvonareva. Afterwards, she also reached the quarterfinal in Luxembourg, losing to eventual champion Alicia Molik.

Golovin was a member of the France Fed Cup team, that defeated Italy in the quarterfinal and Spain in the semifinal, before falling to Russia in the final, in which she defeated No.5 Svetlana Kuznetsova. During the year, she debuted in the Top 100 on February 16 (at No.91), and in the Top 50 on June 14 (at No.50).

2005

Aged 17 years and eight months, Golovin reached the final in Tokyo at the Japan Open as No. 3 seed, losing to No. 2 seed Nicole Vaidišová, aged 16 years and five months. Golovin retired with a left achilles tendinitis, trailing 7–6(4) 3–2. She was also five-time semifinalist on four different surfaces: on hardcourt at Gold Coast, losing to Schnyder in 3 sets and later that year again on hardcourt at Seoul, losing to Jelena Janković in three sets; on carpet at Paris Indoors, which was her second straight semifinalthere, losing the third set tie-break against Dinara Safina; clay at Charleston, where she secured her third career Top 10 victory versus No. 8 Venus Williams en route to her first Tier I semifinal, before falling to Justine Henin-Hardenne in 2 sets; and grass at Birmingham, losing to Maria Sharapova.

Golovin also reached the quarterfinal at Linz losing to Ana Ivanović. She achieved a career-best performance at Roland Garros, reaching the third round as No.17 seed, before falling to No.12 seed Elena Bovina, and reaching an equal-best performance at the US Open, losing as No.23 seed in the third round to No.15 seed Nathalie Dechy in three sets. Golovin also made back-to-back fourth round appearances at Tier I hardcourt events in Indian Wells and Miami, losing to No.5 Elena Dementieva in three sets at both events.

She made her Top 20 debut (at No.18) after her semi-final appearance at Charleston.

2006

At her first tournament of the year in Gold Coast, Golovin reached the quarterfinal, losing to finalist Flavia Pennetta in three sets. She then lost in the first round of the Australian Open to Italian Mara Santangelo. Golovin reached her third consecutive Paris Indoors semifinal, defeating Nadia Petrova 3–6, 7–6(7), 6–3 in the quarterfinal, saving match point down 7–6 in tie-break. The victory over world No. 7 Petrova was the fourth top 10 win of her career. She then lost to top seed and eventual champion Amélie Mauresmo 7–6(5) 5–7 2–6 in the semis, having held 4–2 second-set lead and a match point while serving for the match at 5–4.

Golovin reached her second career Tier I semifinal at Miami, where she defeated world No.8 Elena Dementieva in the fourth round for the fifth career top 10 victory and 100th career singles match win. In the semifinal, Golovin overcame a 5–1 deficit and four match points while down 5–3 in second set versus Maria Sharapova, pushing the match to a third set before she sprained her left ankle and retired at 3–6 7–6(5) 3–4. She made her return to the WTA Tour at Roland Garros, falling in the first round to Jie Zheng. Golovin went 2–1 in France's 3–2 Fed Cup World Group I Play-off victory over the Czech Republic.

Golovin's third semifinal of the season was at Stanford, where, as an unseeded player, she upset Ai Sugiyama and Anna-Lena Grönefeld on the way, losing to No. 2 seed Patty Schnyder. Golovin then reached the quarterfinal of the U.S. Open, defeating Nadia Petrova for the second time in 2006 in the third round and Anna Chakvetadze in the fourth. She then lost to No. 3 seed and eventual champion Maria Sharapova 6–7(4), 6–7(0) in over two hours. After a first round exit in Luxembourg following the U.S. Open, Golovin reached her first final since the Japan Open Tennis Championships in 2005 at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart by defeating Elena Likhovtseva in the first round, Iveta Benešová in the second, Michaëlla Krajicek in the quarterfinal, and 5th seed Patty Schnyder in the semifinal. Golovin then lost to Nadia Petrova 3–6 6–7 in the final.

At the Zürich Open, Golovin reached the second round, defeating Nicole Vaidišová (6–2, 6–0) in the first, before retiring with a foot injury against Maria Kirilenko while leading 4–2 in the fist set.

2007

Golovin started 2007 at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia, a non-Tour event. She won her first singles match, defeating American Ashley Harkleroad 6–3, 4–6, 6–2. She pulled out of the mixed doubles match with partner Jérôme Haehnel, citing an ankle injury. She then defeated Australian Alicia Molik, but then lost to Russian Nadia Petrova 7–6, 6–0. Her first event of the WTA season was the Medibank International held in Sydney. In the first round, she beat Peng Shuai 6–4, 7–5 before falling to the top seed Amélie Mauresmo in the second round 6–7(4), 7–5, 6–1.

At the Australian Open Golovin fell in the third round to 16th seed Shahar Pe'er in a three-hour match 3–6, 7–5, 7–5, who eventually made the quarterfinals. Her next event was the Paris Indoors, where she lost lost 6–2, 3–6, 6–3 in the third round to Justine Henin, who was playing her first tournament since she came back after her divorce. She lost. She beat Alizé Cornet and Ekaterina Bychkova prior to the meeting with Henin. At the 2007 Proximus Diamond Games held in Antwerp, she beat Katarina Srebotnik, fifth seed Patty Schnyder and Elena Likhovtseva en-route to the semifinals, where she lost to Belgian Kim Clijsters 6–4 6–3.

In the Tier I Indian Wells, Golovin came in as the thirteenth seed. In the first round, she beat Aiko Nakamura 6–0, 7–5 and followed it up with a 6–2, 6–0 win over Samantha Stosur. During her fourth round match-up against Nadia Petrova, the Russian retired, trailing 6–2 1–0, allowing Golovin to set up a quarterfinal match-up with surprise quarterfinalist Sybille Bammer. Golovin was the heavy favourite for this match, however she eventually lost 6–2, 6–3. On April 8, 2007, Golovin won her first WTA title at the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida, defeating Nadia Petrova 6–2, 6–1 on green clay. Along the way, she defeated Venus Williams in straight sets 6–2, 6–3 and Ana Ivanović in three sets.

Golovin at the 2007 Fortis Championships Luxembourg

At Wimbledon, Golovin lost in the second round to 16-year-old, unseeded Tamira Paszek. This was considered to be a major upset. Golovin attracted attention from the media and Wimbledon officials by wearing bright red undergarments – prompting a check of the "predominantly white" rule. At the Acura Classic in California, she lost to top seed Sharapova in the third round with a score of 6–0, 6–3. Golovin returned to action at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada where she reached the semifinals, eventually losing to Jelena Janković by a score of 5–7, 6–3, 6–2. She entered the 2007 U.S. Open Women's Singles event as the No. 17 seed, but was upset in the first round by American wildcard Ahsha Rolle.

However, Golovin went on to win her second career title in Portorož, defeating home favourite Katarina Srebotnik 2–6, 6–4, 6–4 in the final. She then competed in Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, a tournament that had eight of the world's top 10 players entering. She equalled her previous year's finish, reaching the final and defeating number two seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–2, 6–4 in the semis. Despite taking the first set off Justine Henin, she lost the final 2–6, 6–2, 6–1. A fortnight later, Golovin had the chance to her avenge her loss to Henin at the 2007 Zürich Open. This was her first final in a Tier I tournament, however this time the impervious Henin beat her in straight sets, 6–4, 6–4.

2008

Golovin started 2008 participating on the French team in the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia. In her first match of the competition, Golovin defeated Gisela Dulko of Argentina 6–4 6–3. She then partnered with Arnaud Clément to defeat the team of Dulko and Juan Ignacio Chela. She won her second singles match over Serbia's Jelena Janković, after Janković suffered a strained muscle in her buttock after just one (albeit, high quality) game in the singles to hand Golovin the win. However, after scans cleared Janković of any serious damage, she came out for the doubles with Novak Đoković and after losing the first set, Serbia claimed the second and the third in a match tie-break to pull off a remarkable victory over Golovin and Clement. In their final tie, France defeated Chinese Taipei 3–0 with the then world No. 13 Golovin dominating to win her singles 6–1, 6–1. After Clement was successful for the first time in the singles, they teamed up to defeat Chinese Taipei 6–4 4–6 (10/3) in the doubles. Serbia's win over Argentina, however left Tatiana Golovin and Arnaud Clément just short of their country's first Hyundai Hopman Cup final and so France finished second in their group behind Serbia.

Golovin entered January's Australian Open as the No.13 seed, her first top 16 and highest ever seeding in a slam but lost in the second round to French player, Aravane Rezaï, and this time was on the wrong side of a 3–6 6–3 3–6 scoreline. Golovin was then scheduled to represent France in the Fed Cup team competition versus China before going on to defend her semi-final points in Antwerp, Belgium. However, due to yet another injury for Golovin, this time to her back, she was forced to pull out of both competitions. A small consolation in this time period was the fact that, due to Nadia Petrova failing to defend her title at Paris in 2007, she climbed a spot to a career high ranking of 12.

Golovin entered the Memphis tournament and was the second seed. However she lost in the first round to Bethanie Mattek easily, 6–4, 6–4. After missing a total of four successive months due to medical concern with her back, it appears that Golovin will not be playing anytime soon as she has pulled out of the 2008 Olympics and the 2008 U.S. Open. Golovin has now fallen to outside the top 200, at 251.

She was diagnosed with lower back inflammation and was forced to stop playing competitive tennis indefinitely.

2009

She appeared in the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition alongside Daniela Hantuchová and Maria Kirilenko in a pictoral entitled Volley of the Dolls.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Mixed doubles: 1 (1-0)

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Partner	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
2004	French Open	Richard Gasquet	Cara Black Wayne Black	6–3, 6–4

Career finals

Singles: 7 (2-5)

Wins (2)

Legend (Singles)

Tier I (0)

Tier II (1)

Tier III (0)

Tier IV (1)

Grand Slam Title (0)

WTA Championship (0)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	April 8, 2007	Bausch & Lomb Championships, Amelia Island, United States	Clay	Nadia Petrova	6–2, 6–1
2.	September 22, 2007	Banka Koper Slovenia Open, Portorož, Slovenia	Hard	Katarina Srebotnik	2–6, 6–4, 6–4

Runner-ups (5)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	June 13, 2004	DFS Classic, Birmingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Maria Sharapova	6–4, 2–6, 1–6
2.	October 9, 2005	AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo, Japan	Hard (i)	Nicole Vaidišová	6–74, 2–3, retired
3.	October 8, 2006	Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart, Germany	Hard (i)	Nadia Petrova	4–6, 6–74
4.	October 7, 2007	Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart, Germany	Hard (i)	Justine Henin	6–2, 2–6, 1–6
5.	October 21, 2007	Zürich Open, Zürich, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Justine Henin	4–6, 4–6

Singles performance time line

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only after a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through to the Australian Open tournament, where she lost on January 16, 2008.

Tournament	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Career Win-Loss
Australian Open	A	4R	2R	1R	3R	2R	7–5
French Open	1R	1R	3R	1R	A	A	2–4
Wimbledon	A	4R	1R	2R	2R	A	5–4
U.S. Open	A	3R	3R	QF	1R	A	8–4
Grand Slam Win-Loss	0-1	8-4	5-4	5-4	3-3	1-1	22-17
WTA Tour Championships	A	A	A	A	A	A	0–0
Indian Wells	2R	2R	4R	3R	QF	A	9–5
Miami	1R	4R	4R	SF	3R	A	11-5
Charleston	A	A	SF	A	QF	A	9–2
Berlin	A	1R	A	A	A	1R	0–2
Rome	A	2R	1R	A	A	A	1–2
Montréal/Toronto	A	QF	2R	1R	SF	A	9–4
Tokyo	A	A	A	1R	A	A	1–1
Moscow	A	A	A	A	A	A	0-0
Runner-ups	0	1	1	1	2	0	5
Tournaments Won	0	0	0	0	2	0	2
Overall Win-Loss	1-4	27-16	33-22	25-18	46-18	2-4	166-94
Year End Ranking	345	27	24	22	13	251	N/A

• A - did not participate in the tournament

Personal life

Golovin was born in Moscow but moved to Paris with her parents when she was eight months old, and attained French citizenship. She speaks fluent French, English and Russian. Golovin and has two sisters, Olga and Oxana. She is in a relationship with Manchester City footballer Samir Nasri.

Tatiana Golovin is today a member of the ‘Champions for Peace’ club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization.

External links

• Tatiana Golovin at the Women's Tennis Association