Olga Poutchkova
Encyclopedia
Olga Alekseyevna Puchkova (also Poutchkova; Rus:
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

 Ольга Алексеевна Пучкова) (born September 27, 1987) is a Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

 professional tennis player and model.  As a junior she played for Belarus, and is sometimes listed as Belarusian as a professional.

Early years

Olga Poutchkova, coached by her father Alex Poutchkov, was No 1 in the World in the ITF U12 rankings in 1999.  Olga won the U12 category in the Eddie Herr in 1999, where she beat Shahar Pe'er
Shahar Pe'er
Shahar Pe'er is an Israeli professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is World No. 11, which she achieved on January 31, 2011 ....

 6–2, 6–2 in the final, and a week later was runner up in the U12 category at the Orange Bowl
Orange Bowl (tennis)
The Orange Bowl is an annual college football bowl game. Orange Bowl may also refer to:* Miami Orange Bowl, a demolished stadium formerly in Miami, Florida* One of two tennis tournaments, one for juniors and the other for youth...

, where qualifier Tatiana Golovin
Tatiana Golovin
Tatiana Golovin 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....

 beat her 6–4, 3–6, 6–4.

Olga made her debut on the U18 circuit August 13, 2000 at the USTA Junior International Grass Court Championships where she was defeated in the first round. Just a week later, at the USTA Junior International Hard Court Championships she secured her first win in a U18 doubles match playing alongside Brazilian Caroline Neves. Alongside American Nicole Pitts she won her first U18 Junior tournament (out of 2 in doubles) in Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

, January 2001. She won her only U18 Junior title in singles at the US Junior International Hard Court Championships in 2003, beating Jessi Robinson 6–2, 6–2 in the final.

ITF Circuit

Poutchkova started her ITF
International Tennis Federation
The International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, made up of 205 national tennis associations.It was established as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by 12 national associations meeting at a conference in Paris, France on 1 March 1913...

 professional career in March 2002, when she played in four tournaments in Australia, reaching the quarterfinals at Warnambool and Benalla. In 2003 she reached the final at Miami in January and the semifinal at Houston in June, and won her first professional tournament at Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

 in July 2003 when she beat Jewel Peterson 6–2, 6–4 in the final.  She won her second professional title July 11, 2004 in College Park, Maryland
College Park, Maryland
College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, USA. The population was 30,413 at the 2010 census. It is best known as the home of the University of Maryland, College Park, and since 1994 the city has also been home to the "Archives II" facility of the U.S...

. She defeated first seeded Maureen Drake
Maureen Drake
Maureen Drake is a Canadian former professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA singles ranking is No. 47, which she reached on September 13, 1999. Her career high doubles ranking is No...

 in the second round and Rossana de los Ríos
Rossana de los Rios
Rossana de los Ríos born September 16, 1975 is a professional tennis player from Paraguay. As of June 14, 2010, she is ranked World No. 92 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour...

 in the final: 7–5, 4–6, 6–2. In Pelham, Alabama
Pelham, Alabama
Pelham is a city and suburb of Birmingham in Shelby County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 14,369, but has grown to 21,352 recorded by the 2010 census. It was named for famed Confederate American Civil War officer John Pelham...

 she reached another final, but was defeated 4–6, 6–4 6–0 by Slovak
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

 Zuzana Zemenová. She reached her fifth ITF final in August 2005, beating Stéphanie Dubois
Stéphanie Dubois
Stéphanie Dubois is a Canadian professional tennis player. She turned professional in 2004 and she achieved a career-best ranking of No. 95 in the world on May 26, 2008.-2004–present:...

 en route. In the final, Ashley Harkleroad
Ashley Harkleroad
Ashley Harkleroad , is an American tennis player. Born in Rossville, Georgia, Harkleroad reached a career-high ranking of No. 39 on June 9, 2003. Her career prize money to date is $1,022,094...

 was too strong as she beat Poutchkova 6–2, 6–1 to claim the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 title.

2006: Breakthrough Year

In 2006 she made her WTA Tour main draw debut in Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...

, Australia as a qualifier; however she lost in the first round to Mara Santangelo
Mara Santangelo
Mara Santangelo is a former professional female tennis player from Italy. She retired from the sport on 28 January 2011.-Tennis career:...

. Afterwards she tried to qualify for the 2006 Australian Open
2006 Australian Open
The 2006 Australian Open was played between 16 and 29 January 2006.- Leadup :Several leading men's players declined to attend the Open due to injury, including Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal and defending champion Marat Safin....

, but failed. She returned to the ITF tour and reached another final in Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...

 at the end of March. She comfortably won the final, beating Andrea Hlaváčková
Andrea Hlavácková
Andrea Hlaváčková is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. Her highest singles ranking is World No.87, which she reached on 31 January 2011, and her highest doubles ranking is World No.17, reached on 15 August 2011...

 6–3, 6–4 to win her third ITF Title.

Her first WTA Tour main draw win in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 followed in June, beating fellow qualifier Viktoriya Kutuzova
Viktoriya Kutuzova
Viktoriya Kutuzova is a female tennis player from Ukraine.On November 28, 2005, Kutuzova reached her highest singles ranking, World No. 76.Kutuzova remains most notable for her results as a 14 year old...

. She then lost her second round match against 4th seed fellow Russian Elena Likhovtseva
Elena Likhovtseva
Elena Alexandrovna Likhovtseva is a Russian tennis player, currently inactive. She turned professional in January 1992 at the age of 16.Likhovtseva's career best appearance in a Grand Slam was when she reached the semi finals of the French Open 2005 before she was defeated by Mary Pierce, 6–1 6–1...

. Back in the IFF Tour she cruised to the final in Felixstowe
Felixstowe
Felixstowe is a seaside town on the North Sea coast of Suffolk, England. The town gives its name to the nearby Port of Felixstowe, which is the largest container port in the United Kingdom and is owned by Hutchinson Ports UK...

's grass tournament, where she turned out to be way too strong for Australian Trudi Musgrave
Trudi Musgrave
Trudi Musgrave is a left-handed Australian professional tennis player, based in Newcastle, Australia.- Biography :Musgrave was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia...

 who was beaten by 6–2, 6–1. As being second seed in Bronx, New York she won yet another ITF title. First seed Melinda Czink
Melinda Czink
Melinda Czink is a Hungarian professional female tennis player. On September 21, 2009 Czink reached her career-high singles ranking of World No. 37....

 was already beaten in the first round by Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 Elise Tamaëla
Elise Tamaëla
Elise Tamaëla is a professional Dutch tennis player playing in the ITF Women's Circuit. On February 17, 2007, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of 129. On April 9, 2007, she reached her highest WTA doubles ranking of 228. She is coached by Stephan Ehritt.-External links:...

. Poutchkova herself won all her matches and faced Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

ian Tatiana Poutchek
Tatiana Poutchek
Tatiana Poutchek is a tennis player from Belarus. Her career high ranking is No. 55 in the world, achieved on July 22, 2002.Many of Poutchek's greatest career results have come in Tashkent reaching 1 singles final and 7 doubles finals winning 5. ....

 final, which was easily won by Poutchkova 6–3, 6–1.

After failing to qualify for the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon earlier in 2006, she successfully qualified for the 2006 US Open, beating Virginie Pichet, Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro
Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro
Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro is a former French female professional tennis player.Her highest singles ranking was #61, achieved on October 5, 2003...

 and Ryoko Fuda
Ryoko Fuda
Ryoko Fuda is a Japanese women's tennis player. She turned pro in December 2003. She has competed in five tennis tournaments since 2003. Ryoko plays using her right hand. According to the WTA she was introduced to tennis when she was 5 by playing on neighborhood courts.-Personal:Ryoko Fuda was...

. She then faced Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli is a French professional tennis player and the current French no. 1. She has won seven Women's Tennis Association singles titles and three doubles titles. She was also a runner-up at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships....

 in the first round and was not able to excel against the 26th seed (6–4, 6–0).

Poutchkova reached her first WTA Tour final in Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

, India, in September 2006, losing to Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis is a retired Swiss professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...

 (6–0, 6–4), but beating seventh seed Nicole Pratt
Nicole Pratt
Nicole Pratt is a retired professional female tennis player from Australia.She is the middle sibling of five children of cane farmers and was taught to play by her father, George, who was a top junior player. She attended school in Calen and received a tennis scholarship to the Australian...

 en route. A week previously she had reached her first Tour singles quarter-final at the Tier III Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...

, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

 notching up her first top 20 victory along the way when beating Ana Ivanović
Ana Ivanovic
Ana Ivanović is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of November 7, 2011, she is ranked 22th on the WTA rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open...

.

At the end of the season, Olga reached her second WTA Tour final in Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

, Canada. She lost to Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli is a French professional tennis player and the current French no. 1. She has won seven Women's Tennis Association singles titles and three doubles titles. She was also a runner-up at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships....

 6–0 6–0, becoming the first woman since 1993 to lose by that scoreline in a Tour final, although she was injured during the final.

2007 to present

Puchkova made her Top 100 debut in 2006, and peaked at a high of World No. 32 on June 17, 2007.  However, her results soon began to tail off, and she didn't reach another quarterfinal until her last tournament of the 2007 season in Bell Challenge
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

. Prior to that she failed to win back-to-back matches on the season, although after the Bell Challenge she managed to reach the final of an ITF event in Pittsburgh, losing to Ashley Harkleroad
Ashley Harkleroad
Ashley Harkleroad , is an American tennis player. Born in Rossville, Georgia, Harkleroad reached a career-high ranking of No. 39 on June 9, 2003. Her career prize money to date is $1,022,094...

 in three sets.  By the end of the season, Puchkova's ranking had fallen to 92, and her record 

At the 2008 Australian Open
2008 Australian Open
The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 through 27 January 2008.After twenty years of playing on...

, she won her first round match, but lost 6–1, 7–5 to World No. 1 Justine Henin in the second round.  Her year would improve slightly as she finished runner-up in the Charlottesville ITF event falling to Alexis King ranked 640 in the world.  She had to attempt to qualify for the 2008 French Open
2008 French Open
The 2008 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 107th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from May 25 through June 8, 2008....

 before falling to eventual quarterfinalist Carla Suárez Navarro
Carla Suarez Navarro
Carla Suárez Navarro is a Spanish tennis player. She began playing for Spain in the 2008 Fed Cup. On May 18, 2009, she reached her career high ranking at World No. 22.-2008:...

 of Spain in the qualifying playoff round.  She then fell at the same stage in Wimbledon
2008 Wimbledon Championships
The 2008 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 122nd edition of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand Slam event of the year...

 qualifying to Eva Hrdinová
Eva Hrdinová
Eva Hrdinová is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. Hrdinova is now the tallest player on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour standing at 1.91m. This beats the previous record of Akgul Amanmuradova, who stands just one centimetre shorter.Hrdinová's highest singles ranking yet has been...

.  She failed to qualify for another main draw of a tour-level tournament in 2008, but did receive direct entry into the Bell Challenge before losing in the second round to Melanie Oudin
Melanie Oudin
Melanie Oudin is an American tennis player and former World Junior No. 2. Her career high rank is World No. 31, which she achieved on April 19, 2010...

 6-1, 7-6(3).  Her last event ended in a first round loss in San Diego, and her ranking dipped to 159.  She went 15-28 on the season.

She fell in the final round of qualifying yet again in the 2009 Australian Open
2009 Australian Open
The 2009 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 97th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 19 January through 1 February 2009. The 2009 men's...

, and didn't enter into a WTA tournament until she was given the opportunity to qualify for the Bell Challenge.  She did manage to qualify, but lost to Amra Sadikovic
Amra Sadiković
Amra Sadiković is a professional Swiss tennis player of Macedonian origin and also a member of the Switzerland Fed Cup team. On November 7, 2011, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of 273 whilst her best doubles ranking was 363 on November 9, 2009.-External links:...

 in the opening main draw round.  19-22 by the end of the season, Puchkova's woes continued and she was ranked 226 in her last tournament of the year in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

.

WTA Tour singles finals: 1 (0-1)

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
Tour Championships (0)
Tier I Event (0)
Tier II Event (0)
Tier III Event (1)
Tier IV Event (0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. September 24, 2006   Kolkata
Sunfeast Open
The Sunfeast Open was an annual WTA Tour tennis tournament that was started in Kolkata in 2005. The event was a Tier III-tournament with a prize money of USD 175,000 and was played on indoors greenset. The fourth edition of the  WTA Sunfeast Open, slated to be held in Kolkata from October 6-12,...

, India
Carpet   Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis is a retired Swiss professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...

6–0, 6–4

ITF Circuit singles titles: 5

No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. July 20, 2003 Baltimore, Maryland, United States Hard   Jewel Peterson 6–2, 6–4
2. July 11, 2004 College Park, Maryland
College Park, Maryland
College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, USA. The population was 30,413 at the 2010 census. It is best known as the home of the University of Maryland, College Park, and since 1994 the city has also been home to the "Archives II" facility of the U.S...

, United States
Hard   Rossana de los Ríos
Rossana de los Rios
Rossana de los Ríos born September 16, 1975 is a professional tennis player from Paraguay. As of June 14, 2010, she is ranked World No. 92 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour...

7–5, 4–6, 6–2
3. April 2, 2006 Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...

, United States
Hard   Andrea Hlaváčková
Andrea Hlavácková
Andrea Hlaváčková is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. Her highest singles ranking is World No.87, which she reached on 31 January 2011, and her highest doubles ranking is World No.17, reached on 15 August 2011...

6–3, 6–4
4. July 16, 2006 Felixstowe
Felixstowe
Felixstowe is a seaside town on the North Sea coast of Suffolk, England. The town gives its name to the nearby Port of Felixstowe, which is the largest container port in the United Kingdom and is owned by Hutchinson Ports UK...

, Great Britain
Grass   Trudi Musgrave
Trudi Musgrave
Trudi Musgrave is a left-handed Australian professional tennis player, based in Newcastle, Australia.- Biography :Musgrave was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia...

6–2, 6–1
5. August 20, 2006 Bronx, New York, United States Hard   Tatiana Poutchek
Tatiana Poutchek
Tatiana Poutchek is a tennis player from Belarus. Her career high ranking is No. 55 in the world, achieved on July 22, 2002.Many of Poutchek's greatest career results have come in Tashkent reaching 1 singles final and 7 doubles finals winning 5. ....

6–3, 6–1

External links

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