Alona Bondarenko

Alona Volodymyrivna Bondarenko Dyachok (Ukrainian: Альона Володимирівна Бондаренко, born 13 August 1984) is a Ukrainian tennis player. Her younger sister Kateryna Bondarenko also plays on the WTA Tour.

Her career-high singles ranking is No. 19, achieved on 14 April 2008. She defeated former world No. 1 Jelena Janković in the third round of the 2010 Australian Open, and won the 2008 Australian Open women's doubles tournament with her sister Kateryna, beating Victoria Azarenka and Shahar Pe'er in the finals. She also formerly paired with her older sister Valeria in doubles.

Early years

Bondarenko started competing in the pro tour in 1999 at the age of 14. Then she competed in ITF Women's Circuit, where she reached two second rounds in Tallinn, Estonia, and Kharkiv, Ukraine.

She began the year 2000 reaching her first ITF finals in Kalamata, Greece but ended up losing to Russian Ekaterina Kozhokina 5–7, 5–7, even though not losing a set before the finals. She was only able to attain good success in two events, a semifinal in Kedzierzyn-Kozle and a quarterfinal in Sopot entering as a qualifier. The rest of the year she was failing to qualify in other events. In 2001, she failed to qualify in her first three events in Dubai, Caserta and Tallinn. However, she was able two reached two semifinals, in Kedzierzyn-Kozle and Tbilisi. She also managed to reach the quarterfinals in Batumi.

2002 was an inconsistent year, as she managed to reach the semifinals in Buchan before losing to Syna Schmidle in three sets and then followed it up by falling in the qualifying draw in Dubai. The following week she reached the second round of Dinan after getting pass the qualifying draw and followed it up by once again failing to qualify. At her next event in Fontanafredda she qualified for the main draw she again and won her first ITF title over Mara Santangelo 6–3, 6–0. However, in her next six tournament she was managing only to reach one second round. After her third final in Batumi she made first-round exits in Joué-lès-Tours and Saint Raphael, both in France. She ended the year with a semifinals appearance in Poitiers, losing to Seda Noorlander 2–6, 1–6.

In 2003 Bondarenko tried to qualify for the main draw of the WTA tour, but failed in Hobart, Melbourne, and Hyderabad. She then made it through her first WTA Tour main draw as a direct entry at the Copa Colsanitas, but ended up losing to Flavia Pennetta in the very first round 3–6, 1–6. She then went back to the ITF circuit after failing to qualify in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel but was unsuccessful, only making it through one semifinal in Taranto out of seven events. She also failed to qualify for the French Open and Wimbledon. In the middle of the two Slam tournaments she made the quarterfinals of the ITF events in Galatina and Fontanafredda. She then once again tried to get through the main draw of the WTA Tour but failed each time including the US Open. Following the US Open she won her second ITF title in Zhukovskiy.

At the beginning of 2004, Bondarenko qualified for the first time in the main draw and even claim her first victory there, when she defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives in three sets before being double-bageled by eventual champion Fabiola Zuluaga in the next round. After that she then went back to the ITF circuit where she won her third title in Bari, prevailing over younger sister Kateryna Bondarenko in the finals 2–6, 6–2, 6–4. In her next tournaments following, she had a bad run failing to qualify in any of the WTA events she entered while falling early in the ITF events she entered. She then reached the finals of Orbetello, losing to Catalina Castaño in three sets. She then made little progress and ended the year with a runner-up performance in Deauville, losing to Květa Peschke 0–6, 3–6 and quarterfinal appearances in the ITF events of Poitiers and Bergamo.

2005

In 2005, Alona made her Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open, where she suffered a first-round loss to sixth-seeded Elena Dementieva, 3–6, 3–6. Two weeks later, she reached her first WTA quarterfinal at Volvo Women's Open in Thailand where she lost to eventual runner-up, Anna-Lena Grönefeld of Germany, in straight sets 4–6, 1–6.

The following week at Hyderabad, she reached her first tour final as the tournament's 9th seeded player, falling to hometown favourite Sania Mirza in three tight sets, 4–6, 7–5, 3–6. However, due to this result she made her first appearance in the top 100 of the WTA rankings. She then qualified for her first Tier-I event in the Pacific Life Open, and reached the second round before falling to top American doubles player Lisa Raymond 6–4, 3–6, 3–6. She also qualified for the NASDAQ-100 Open but lost in the opening round to Russian Alina Jidkova 3–6, 2–6. She received a direct entry to the Estoril Open, reaching the second round before losing to 3rd seed Gisela Dulko 2–6, 3–6. In the Rome Masters she fell in the qualifying round. She then received direct entry in the İstanbul Cup, French Open, DFS Classic, all losing in the first round and failed to qualify in the Hastings Direct International Championships. She, however, made a shocking performance in Wimbledon, claiming her first Grand Slam win and upsetting 20th seed Tatiana Golovin in the first round 6–3, 3–6, 7–5, before falling to Nathalie Dechy 1–6, 4–6 in the third round. She then made early exits at Modena, Palermo, in the Nordea Nordic Light Open and the US Open. Her last good performance of the year was in the Wismilak International where she reached the quarterfinals before losing to Li Na after defeating top Australian player Alicia Molik in the previous round. She ended the year for the first time inside the top 100, at 73.

2006

2006 was a breakthrough year for Bondarenko as she made it inside the top 50, after quarterfinal appearances at Hobart and Bangalore, and first-round exits in Pattaya and at the Australian Open as well as early exits in Dubai, Doha, and Indian Wells. With her early exit in Indian Wells, Bondarenko decided to compete in Orange in California an ITF event claiming the title over Yvonne Meusburger 6–3, 7–5. Then she made stellar performances in the WTA Tour, making it to the third round of the Pacific Life Open entering as a qualifier, losing to Ana Ivanovic 3–6, 7–5, 3–6.

On the clay-court season, she made it through the second rounds of top events at the Bausch & Lomb Championships, losing to Vera Dushevina 1–6, 4–6, and the Family Circle Cup, losing to eventual champion Nadia Petrova 1–6, 6–0, 2–6, the second set was the fewest games Petrova won in a set in the whole tournament. She made it through the quarterfinals of ECM Prague Open, losing to eventual champion Shahar Pe'er 5–7, 0–6, and the semifinals of GP SAR La Princess Lalla Meryem, losing to Martina Suchá 3–6, 2–6. Her luck, however, was turned upside-down when she made first-round exits in the İstanbul Cup, French Open and DFS Classic. She then made it through the second round of the Ordina Open before falling to Jelena Janković 4–6, 6–1, 6–7 and made a first-round exit in Wimbledon.

In her 2006 US Open Series tournaments, she lost in the first rounds of Bank of the West Classic and Rogers Cup, the second rounds of Acura Classic and the US Open, and the third round of the JPMorgan Chase Open. In her first tournament after the US Open, she won her first title in the Fortis Championships Luxembourg ousting Francesca Schiavone 6–3, 6–2 in the finals. She was the second lowest-ranked player ever to win a Tier-II title, being ranked No. 62, the record is held by Kim Jones-Schaefer who was ranked No. 64. She also made it through the top 50 after her first title. She then failed to qualify in the Kremlin Cup and the Zurich Open and ended the year ranked No. 32.

2007

Bondarenko started with a second-round loss to Alicia Molik at the Moorilla Hobart International, 3–6, 5–7. At the Australian Open she made a valiant effort, beating two unseeded players to advance to the third round, losing to fourth seed Kim Clijsters. She then lost in the first round of the Qatar Total Open, third round of Indian Wells and second round of the Miami Masters. She also reached the third round of the Bausch & Lomb Championships, losing to Jelena Janković.

On 7 May 2007 she finished runner-up to Justine Henin at the Tier II J&S Cup held in Warsaw, losing 1–6, 3–6. In the semifinals, she got the first top-ten win of her career over then No. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets. The performance saw her rise into the top 30 for the first time, at No. 29.

She then followed it up with third-round appearances at Qatar Telecom German Open and Internazionali BNL d'Italia, losing to Serbians Ivanovic (retiring at 3–6, 0–5 down) and Janković respectively, which both of them eventually captured the title. She followed it by making the semifinals of the İstanbul Cup, losing to Dementieva 6–7, 2–6, once again, and this was the fourth time in a row that she has lost to the eventual champion. Despite this good performances she lost to the unseeded and lower-ranked Karin Knapp of Italy in three sets.

She however bounced back with good showings at the grass season, reaching the quarterfinals of both the DFS Classic and Ordina Open, losing both to Janković; this was her fourth loss to her in that year. She then hit her career high shortly after Wimbledon, where she made the third round before losing to Patty Schnyder 4–6, 6–3, 6–8 after holding a 4–1 lead in the final set. She then came out with a three straight loss in the second round of the Acura Classic, first rounds of East West Bank Classic and Rogers Cup. But she rebounded just before the US Open with a quarterfinal showing at the Pilot Pen Tennis, she then eventually reached the third round of the US Open, losing to Venus Williams. She then lost three straight matches in a row, two of them coming from Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli.

On 17 October 2007 Bondarenko beat Amélie Mauresmo 2–6, 6–4, 6–1 at the Zurich Open to reach her first ever Tier-I quarterfinal, but lost to Nicole Vaidišová there. She also reached the quarterfinals of the Generali Ladies Linz, losing to eventual champion Daniela Hantuchová. She ended the year at No. 22. On 22 October, she passed $1 million in career prize money, the first player representing Ukraine to pass that milestone.

2008

The beginning of the year brought second-round exits at the Hobart and Melbourne, losing to lower-ranked players. On the other hand, Bondarenko won the Australian Open women's doubles title, partnering with her younger sister Kateryna. They defeated the pairing Shahar Pe'er and Victoria Azarenka 2–6, 6–2, 6–4. They became only the second pairing of sisters to win the title, the first being the Williams sisters. She then followed it up with first-round exits at Open Gaz de France and Proximus Diamond Games, once again losing to lower-ranked players. She also lost to eventual champion Dementieva at the Dubai Tennis Championships in the second round. She made her first third round of the year at the Pacific Life Open, losing to Maria Sharapova, this was the start of good showings from the Ukrainian. She, however, lost to Kaia Kanepi in the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open, after receiving a bye. Continuing her good form from Indian Wells she reached the quarterfinals of Bausch & Lomb Championships, Qatar Telecom German Open, and Internationaux de Strasbourg. In the middle of this she lost in the second round of Internazionali BNL d'Italia reasonably to Serena Williams. Her performance at a Major once again was a disappointment as she lost in the first round of the French Open to Petra Cetkovská.

She then again made great showing at the grass. She reached the quarterfinals of DFS Classic by defeating Virginia Ruano Pascual and Sunitha Rao before falling to Marina Erakovic. Alona also reached the semifinals of the Ordina Open, losing to eventual champion Tamarine Tanasugarn, she however lost at the second round of Wimbledon. She then represented Ukraine at the 2008 Olympics, losing to Serbian Jelena Janković in the second round, in the doubles she partnered with sister Kateryna and they came in fourth place. She then reached the third round of the US Open, losing to Venus Williams. She then lost in the second rounds of Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and Zurich Open and the first round of Kremlin Cup to higher ranked players Jelena Janković, Venus Williams, and Katarina Srebotnik. She ended the year competing in the Generali Ladies Linz where she lost in the quarterfinals to Marion Bartoli.

2009

The first three months of the year Bondarenko made only one victory in three tournaments and no victories in the other three. However, she managed to reach the third round of the Australian Open, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in a tight two-setter 6–7, 4–6. At the MPS Group Championships, she reached her first quarterfinal of the year. In the first round, she defeated Sania Mirza 6–4, 6–3 to set up a clash with sister Kateryna. Alona came from a set down to win 4–6, 6–4, 6–3 before losing to Nadia Petrova in three sets. She then made it to the second round of Family Circle Cup and first round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. She then gave Ukraine two victories at the second week of the Fed Cup playoffs.

At the Madrid Masters, Bondarenko defeated Kuznetsova in the second round and Anna Chakvetadze in the third before falling to world No. 1 Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals. She defeated former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova 6–2, 6–2 in the quarterfinals of the 2009 red clay event in Warsaw and Anne Keothavong 6–2, 7–5 in the semifinals. She fell to Alexandra Dulgheru in the final, 6–7, 6–3, 0–6.

At the French Open, Bondarenko fell to 20th seed Dominika Cibulková in the first round in three sets. She then performed badly at grass unable to duplicate her performance in the past two years, losing in the second round of the Ordina Open and first round of Wimbledon to Elena Baltacha. She then made it to her first semifinal since the 2007 İstanbul Cup, which was more than two years ago. She then lost to sister Kateryna 1–6, 3–6 in the first round of the ECM Prague Open breaking the tie between the two as she trails her sister 3–4 in head-to-head now. She then reached the third rounds of LA Women's Tennis Championships, losing to Sharapova in three, and Rogers Cup, losing to Serena Williams. She then reached the second rounds of Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open and Pilot Pen Tennis. In the first round of the US Open she beat Alla Kudryavtseva 3–6, 6–3, 6–2, but lost to Gisela Dulko in the second round. In her first tournament since the US Open, she lost in the first round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open to Vera Dushevina 6–1, 5–7, 1–6. She lost in the third round of the China Open to Svetlana Kuznetsova 3–6, 6–4, 0–6 after defeating Ágnes Szávay and Sara Errani both in straight sets. She played her last tournament of the year at the Kremlin Cup, where she beat Anna Chakvetadze, Nadia Petrova and Tsvetana Pironkova all in straight sets before losing to eventual champion Francesca Schiavone in the semifinals in straight sets as well.

2010

Bondarenko started the year with her pre-Australian Open tournament at Hobart. As the fourth seed, she reached the final defeating Sybille Bammer, Alizé Cornet, seventh seed Jie Zheng, and top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues. In the final, Alona defeated second seed Shahar Pe'er 6–2, 6–4. This title was her second overall and her first title in over three years. She then suffered a four-match losing streak in the first round of Dubai Championships, second rounds of BNP Paribas Open and Sony Ericsson Open and the first round of MPS Group Championships. She ended the losing streak in Family Circle Cup with a straight set 6–4, 6–2 victory over Julie Ditty. She then defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 4–6, 7–5, 7–5 before losing to eventual finalist Vera Zvonareva 2–6, 1–6.

Alona then flew to Madrid to compete at the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open. In the first round she came back from a set down to defeat Magdaléna Rybáriková 2–6, 6–1, 6–4. She then gained the biggest win of her career by defeating world No. 2, Caroline Wozniacki 6–2, 6–3, signalling her return to good form. But lost to 13th seed Li Na, 3–6, 4–6 in the third round. She then played in the Polsat Warsaw Open but was upset by Gréta Arn 5–7, 6–4, 6–4 in the quarterfinals. In the French Open and Wimbledon Championships she was able to reach the third round for the first time but lost to Jelena Janković in two sets 4–6, 6–7 and 0–6, 3–6 respectively. She then suffered early losses in the first rounds of Mercury Insurance Open, Rogers Cup and Pilot Pen Tennis and the second round of Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open. In the US Open she lost to 6th seed Francesca Schiavone in the third round after defeating Vera Dushevina and Melanie Oudin. She then reached the second rounds of the Toray Pan Pacific Open and China Open. She then was upset by Roberta Vinci in the first round of Generali Ladies Linz. She also fell in the second round of the Kremlin Cup falling to María José Martínez Sánchez 1–6, 6–1, 4–6.

2011–2018: Retirement, comeback, and absence again

Bondarenko played her last match for almost five years in October 2011 at Moscow. In August 2016, she came back at the $10,000 event in Tarvisio, Italy. Throughout the rest of 2016 and 2017 she played various tournaments on the ITF circuit, but did not win any titles. She has not played any professional matches since October 2017.

She was coached by her mother Natalia Bondarenko and her husband Nikolay Dyachok. On 30 May 2015, she gave birth to her son Evgen.

Doubles: Bronze medal match (0–1)

Singles: 5 (2 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Doubles: 6 (4 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Singles