Nadia Petrova

Nadezhda Viktorovna Petrova (Russian: Надежда Викторовна Петрова; born 8 June 1982) is a Russian retired professional tennis player.
Overall, she has won 37 WTA Titles, 13 in singles and 24 in doubles. In singles, Petrova reached a career-high ranking of world no. 3 in May 2006, and reached the semifinals of the French Open in 2003 and 2005. In doubles, she won the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in 2004 with Meghann Shaughnessy, and in 2012 with Maria Kirilenko. With Kirilenko, she also won the bronze medal in the women's doubles at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Petrova was born in Moscow. Her parents were both very athletic: her father Viktor was a leading hammer thrower, while her mother Nadezhda Ilyina won a bronze medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics in the 400 meter relay. Her father is still an athletics coach, and her mother was an athletics coach until her death in 2013. As a child, Nadia did a lot of travelling around the world with her parents. She eventually settled in Egypt, where she trained with Mohammed Seif and her parents. Petrova says that hard courts are her favourite surface, but she has been most successful on clay courts. She is currently coached by Vladimir Platenik.

Playing style

Petrova is an all-court aggressive player who is capable of hitting winners off both wings, but particularly off her back-hand and which she hits flat and with slice. Petrova's serve is considered her biggest asset and one of the best serves in the women's game. In 2010 she hit the most aces on the tour with 306. She had an impressive 70% of first serve points won and also won over 74% of her service games. As an accomplished doubles player, Petrova's volleying skills are considered exceptional and she is not afraid to come into the net to finish off points. Petrova's main weakness is her movement around the court as she is often slow to retrieve balls and can sometimes struggle to defend well during rallies. Also, her forehand is sometimes erratic and can produce many unforced errors. Petrova states hard courts as her preferred surface, however, she has been most successful on clay courts where she can dictate play easier because it gives her more time on the ball. She is known for her unpredictability and inconsistency.

Early career

As a junior, Petrova won the 1998 French Open, beating Jelena Dokić in the final. The same year she finished runner-up at the Orange Bowl to Elena Dementieva and she also finished runner-up at the junior 1999 US Open to Lina Krasnoroutskaya. In May 1998, she played her first WTA tournament at the J&S Cup as a wildcard entrant. She also received a wildcard for her home event in Moscow, the Kremlin Cup, where she picked up her first top twenty win over Iva Majoli. By the end of 1999, Petrova had reached the top 100.

In 2000, she reached the third round of the Australian Open and the quarterfinals of the Ericsson Open, beating Julie Halard-Decugis for her first top ten win before losing to Lindsay Davenport. She finished the season at No. 50. She reached the fourth round of both French Open and the US Open in 2001 and her ranking hit a high of No. 38 during the season. However, her 2002 season was marred by injuries causing her ranking to drop out of the top 100.

2003–2004: First Grand Slam Semi-Final and Top 10 Ranking

At the 2003 Australian Open, Petrova defeated Gréta Arn 6–2, 6–1 and then defeated 21st seed Ai Sugiyama 6–4, 6–4 in the second round. Petrova then lost in three sets to World No. 15 Patty Schnyder 6–2, 4–6, 6–3 in the third round.

Petrova was ranked World No. 76 going into the 2003 French Open. In the first round she beat the three-time champion and World No. 12 Monica Seles 6–4, 6–0, on what was to be Seles' last professional match. She then defeated Silvija Talaja 6–1, 6–1 and Marissa Irvin 6–1, 6–1 to reach the fourth round. Here, Petrova stunned 7th seed Jennifer Capriati 6–3, 4–6, 6–3. In the quarter-finals, Petrova won again in three sets over 21st seed Vera Zvonareva 6–1, 4–6, 6–3 to reach her first ever Grand Slam Semi-Final. Petrova faced World No. 2 Kim Clijsters and despite having a set point in the first set, Petrova was beaton in straight sets 7–5, 6–1. Despite this, Petrova's ranking increased to World No. 30.

Petrova reached the semi-finals of S'Hertogenbosch, defeating Elena Dementieva en route but lost to World No. 3 Justine Henin in three sets. At the 2003 Wimbledon Championships, Petrova was seeded 29th and made it to the third round before losing to Venus Williams 6–1, 6–2.

Petrova was seeded 19th at the 2003 US Open and defeated 14th seed Amanda Coetzer 6–0, 6–1 in the third round. In the fourth round, Petrova lost to 3rd seed Lindsay Davenport 0–6, 7–6(6), 2–6. Petrova continued her success by reaching the semi-finals of Zurich, beating World No. 8 and US Open finalist before losing to Henin 6–4, 6–4.

The following week in Linz, Petrova beat Paola Suárez and Patty Schnyder to reach her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final. However she fell to Ai Sugiyama 7–5, 6–4.

Petrova ended 2003 ranked World No. 12 with a 45–23 singles record.

Petrova reached her second WTA final at Gold Coast, losing once again to Ai Sugiyama 1–6, 6–1, 6–4. She was upset in the first round of the Australian Open to Anikó Kapros, losing 6–3, 6–3.

In March 2004, she hit the top ten at No. 9 after reaching the semifinals of the Tier 1 NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami. She reached the semifinals at the Bausch & Lomb Championships, beating second-seeded Serena Williams before losing to Lindsay Davenport. After this, her ranking elevated to a career high of No. 7. However, she failed to defend her semifinal points from the 2003 French Open, losing to Marlene Weingärtner in the third round 6–3, 6–2.

At the US Open, she pulled off the biggest win of her career by defeating World No. 1 and defending champion Justine Henin 6–3, 6–2 in the fourth round. It was Petrova's first victory over a world No. 1. She lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 7–6, 6–3.

Petrova reached the semi-finals of Linz, losing to Elena Bovina in three sets. She also reached the semi-finals of Philadelphia, losing to Vera Zvonareva.

Petrova finished the year ranked World No. 12 with a 40–25 singles record.

2005: First Career Title and Top 10 Finish

Petrova reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, losing to the eventual champion Serena Williams, 6–1, 3–6, 6–3. She reached her third career final at the Qatar Total German Open in May, beating Mary Pierce, Amélie Mauresmo and Jelena Janković, before losing to Justine Henin. Her ranking rose to No. 9, where she stayed for the next two years before dropping out in May 2007.

At the French Open, Petrova defeated 17-year-old Ana Ivanovic in the quarter-finals before losing to Henin-Hardenne 6–2, 6–3 in the semi-finals; her performance at the tournament saw her ranking rise to World No. 8. A few weeks later at Wimbledon, she reached the quarter-finals before losing to defending champion Maria Sharapova 7–6, 6–3. After Wimbledon, she reached five straight quarterfinals at Los Angeles, Toronto, the US Open, Luxembourg, and Filderstadt.

Petrova finally won her first title at the Generali Ladies Linz held in Linz, Austria. She beat Patty Schnyder in the final.

Her successful season meant she qualified for the Sony Ericsson Championships in Los Angeles. She ended 2005 ranked World No. 9, her first top ten finish.

2006: Top-3 ranking

At the Australian Open, Petrova was seeded sixth and defeated Sophie Ferguson, Martina Müller, Maria Elena Camerin, and Elena Vesnina on her way to her first quarterfinal at the Australian Open. She lost to fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova, 6–7(4), 4–6 in the quarterfinals.

At the Qatar Total Open held in Doha, Petrova picked up her first title of the year and second overall by beating second-ranked and top-seeded Amélie Mauresmo, 6–3, 7–5, in the final. The victory took her ranking to no. 7. She followed it with a quarterfinal showing at the NASDAQ-100 Open, losing to Mauresmo, 3–6, 1–6.

Petrova then began a run that would take her to three titles, winning fifteen straight matches. At the Bausch & Lomb Championships, she defeated Francesca Schiavone in the final to pick up her third title in the past six months. One week later, she won her second straight title and fourth overall at the Family Circle Cup with a victory over Patty Schnyder.

She next entered the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, defeating Justine Henin. With this win, she ascended to her career-high ranking of no. 3.

However, Petrova was defeated in the first round of the French Open by Akiko Morigami, 2–6, 2–6. This may have been caused by an ankle injury Petrova suffered during training for the tournament. She then withdrew from Wimbledon and did not win a match in the U.S. Open Series, going 0–3. At the US Open, Petrova was upset in the third round by Tatiana Golovin.

At the Stuttgart, Petrova won her first tournament title since the Qatar Telecom German Open in May 2006. She then continued her return to form by reaching the final of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, losing to Russian Anna Chakvetadze.

At the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid in November 2006, her lone victory was over top-ranked Amélie Mauresmo, 6–2, 6–2. She finished the year at no. 6.

2007

At the Australian Open, she reached the third round, before falling to Serena Williams, the eventual champion, after holding a 5–3 lead in the second set.

Nadia Petrova at the 2007 Australian Open

At the Open Gaz de France in Paris, Petrova picked up her seventh tour title and first of the season by beating Lucie Šafářová. Petrova reached the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, losing to Justine Henin. Petrova then reached the final in Amelia Island, losing to Tatiana Golovin.

She was the eleventh-seeded player at the French Open, but lost to Květa Peschke, 5–7, 7–5, 0–6. After the loss, she claimed that the lower-back pain had been bothering her. It was her second consecutive first-round loss at the French Open because of injury.

At Wimbledon, Petrova lost to Ana Ivanovic, 1–6, 6–2, 4–6, in the fourth round.

In the 2007 Fed Cup tie against the USA in July, Petrova played a pivotal role in securing the victory for her team. While losing on the first day against Venus Williams, she won her singles match against Meilen Tu on the second day, and then teamed with Elena Vesnina to beat Williams and Lisa Raymond in the decisive doubles rubber.

At the JPMorgan Chase Open, Petrova reached her third final of the year, losing to Ana Ivanovic in straight sets.

At the US Open, Petrova was seeded seventh, but lost to Ágnes Szávay, 4–6, 4–6. The loss meant that she had not gone past the fourth round of any Grand Slam tournament all year, the first time since 2002.

She finished 2007 ranked no. 14, her lowest year-end ranking in five years.

2008

Petrova started her 2008 season on a two-match losing streak going into the Australian Open, losing in the first round in Gold Coast as the second seed to Tathiana Garbin, 7–5, 5–7, 3–6, and in Sydney 5–7, 3–6 to Sybille Bammer. She still managed to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open though as the 14th seed with wins over Nicole Pratt, Anne Kremer, and Ekaterina Makarova, all in straight sets.. There she played Agnieszka Radwańska of Poland, who beat her 6–1, 5–7, 0–6. Petrova held a 6–1, 3–0 lead and looked to be on her way to an easy victory. In the third set, she won just four points.

At the Open Gaz de France in Paris, Petrova was the defending champion and seeded fifth, but lost in the first round to Kateryna Bondarenko, 6–7(4), 6–3, 4–6. Petrova retired in her first–round match at the 2008 Qatar Total Open against Anabel Medina Garrigues due to an upset stomach while trailing 2–6, 2–1. At Dubai, she lost 4–6, 4–6 to Katarina Srebotnik.

Petrova's injuries continued to strike -when she was forced to retire in the second round of Miami with a right quad strain while trailing 1–2 in the first set against Zheng Jie.

At the 2008 German Open in Berlin, Petrova returned to action as the 16th seed and defeated Katarina Srebotnik, 7–6(5), 3–6, 7–6(2), in the first round, before losing in the second round to Maria Kirilenko, 3–6, 3–6. Petrova was once again defeated by Kirilenko in the first round of Rome, but this time in three sets, 6–3, 5–7, 4–6. At her final warm-up tournament in Istanbul, Nadia was seeded third and got past Lilia Osterloh- in the first round and Marta Domachowska- in the second round. She lost to Akgul Amanmuradova, 6–7(0), 6–1, 4–6, in the quarterfinals.

Petrova won the 2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open beating Nathalie Dechy in the final.

These losses put Petrova in poor stead going into the French Open. As the 25th seed, she beat Aravane Rezaï and Alisa Kleybanova in straight sets, before being thrashed by Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2–6, 1–6.

Petrova's grass season began at Eastbourne, where she reached her first final of the year showing good form. She was beaten in a close match by Pole Agnieszka Radwańska, 4–6, 7–6(11), 4–6.

At Wimbledon, Petrova was 21st seed and was on track after wins over Olga Govortsova and Mara Santangelo. Petrova then pulled off an excellent win over the in-form teenager and 16th seed Victoria Azarenka in the third round. In the fourth round, she faced unseeded Alla Kudrayatseva who just came off a win over third seed Maria Sharapova; Petrova won to reach her second quarterfinal at Wimbledon. This was also the first time that Petrova had reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2006 Australian Open. She lost a cracker two and a half hour marathon match against the fifth seed Elena Dementieva, 1–6, 7–6(6), 3–6. Petrova rallied from 6–1, 5–2 down and saved match points throughout the second set, but eventually lost the match in the third set. Her ranking improved to world no. 17 after the tournament.

Bouncing back from a first-round defeat at Stanford to Dominika Cibulková, Petrova reached the quarterfinals at Los Angeles, defeating fifth seed Vera Zvonareva en route, before losing to Jelena Janković, 5–7, 4–6. At Montreal, she again suffered a surprise defeat by Cibulková in the third round, this time losing 6–7(2), 2–6.

Nadia then played in Cincinnati, as she did not gain entry into the Olympics because she was not in the top-four ranked Russian players at the time. After easy wins over Galina Voskoboeva, Julie Ditty, and Lilia Osterloh, Petrova once again found herself up against Maria Kirilenko for a place in the final. This time though, Petrova was victorious, coming back from a set down to win, 1–6, 6–2, 6–1. Petrova then thrashed Nathalie Dechy, 6–2, 6–1, in the final to win her first title of the year and the eighth of her career.

Nadia Petrova at the 2008 U.S. Open

Petrova was in good form heading into the final Grand Slam tournament of the year at the US Open. Petrova was seeded 19th and beat Olivia Sanchez in the first round and Hsieh Su-wei in the second. Petrova was ousted, 6–4, 4–6, 3–6, by the 16th seed Flavia Pennetta in the third round.

Petrova bounced back to good form at the 2008 Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic. Seeded fourth, Nadia defeated fifth seed Francesca Schiavone in the quarterfinals, but she lost in the semifinals to second seed and eventual champion Patty Schnyder, 5–7, 1–6.

At the 2008 Toray Pan Pacific Open, Petrova was unseeded, but beat two top–10 players, Ana Ivanovic, the second seed in the second round and Agnieszka Radwańska to reach the semifinals, where she lost 1–6, 0–6 to Dinara Safina, the eventual champion. At Stuttgart, she reached her third final of the season, after an impressive run, beating Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, Patty Schnyder, Li Na, and Victoria Azarenka in straight sets. She failed to win the title, this time losing to Jelena Janković, the world no. 2, 4–6, 3–6. Despite not winning the title, Petrova's ranking moved back into the top 15 to world no. 14 as a result of reaching the final.

Petrova was a quarterfinalist at her home event, the 2008 Kremlin Cup in Moscow, beating teenager Caroline Wozniacki, before losing to compatriot and third seed Elena Dementieva, 4–6, 6–4, 6–7(6). She was also a quarterfinalist at the Linz, losing 3–6, 2–6 to Radwańska.

At her final tournament of the season in Quebec City, she won her second title of the year, beating lucky loser Angela Haynes in the semifinals and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 4–6, 6–4, 6–1, in the final. This title also secured her status as the second alternate for the WTA Tour Championships should a player withdraw. This did indeed happen, and Petrova came in replacing Serena Williams. She lost her only match to Dementieva, 4–6, 6–4, 4–6.

Petrova finished the 2008 season ranked world no. 11.

2009

Petrova started 2009 playing at the 2009 Medibank International Sydney, where she was seeded seventh. She lost in the first round to Alizé Cornet, 2–6, 4–6. Petrova was seeded tenth at the Australian Open in Melbourne. She lost to seventh–seeded Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round, 5–7, 4–6. However, this caused her ranking to move back into the top 10 for the first time since early 2007 to world no. 10. She later reached world no. 9.

Petrova did not play in the Indian Wells, a Premier Mandatory event due to injury. In Miami Nadia entered as ninth seed, but lost to world no. 54 Ekaterina Makarova in the third round, 5–7, 1–6.

Petrova next headed to Ponte Vedra Beach as the top seed, where she defeated Olga Govortsova, Madison Keys (who had just won her first main-draw match), and Alona Bondarenko. She fell in the semifinals to eventual finalist Aleksandra Wozniak, 4–6, 6–4, 2–6. Petrova fell in the second round at Charleston to Melinda Czink, 6–3, 4–6, 5–7. At the 2009 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Petrova was seeded sixth, but lost in the second round to Flavia Pennetta, 2–6, 2–6. She next went to the Rome Masters as eighth seed, where she had a first-round bye before defeating giant-killer Carla Suárez Navarro. In the third round, Petrova was ousted by María José Martínez Sánchez, 4–6, 7–6(5), 4–6.

Nadia Petrova at the 2009 French Open

Petrova was seeded 11th at the 2009 French Open in Paris, where she had reached the semifinals in 2003 and 2005. She defeated Lauren Embree in the first round, but lost in the second round to world no. 102 Maria Sharapova, 2–6, 6–1, 6–8.

At the 2009 Aegon International, Petrova was seeded seventh and defeated Ana Ivanovic in the first round in three sets. She came back from a double break down in the final set to win. However, she was defeated in the second round by fellow Russian Vera Dushevina, when she was forced to retire due to a lower back injury after taking the first set.

Petrova's next tournament was Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam of the year, where she was the tenth seed. She beat Anastasiya Yakimova in the first round. Petrova won her second-round match against Shahar Pe'er, and then came from a set down to beat Gisela Dulko. Petrova lost to Victoria Azarenka in three sets in the fourth round.

Petrova began her 2009 US Open Series campaign at Stanford, where she was seeded fifth. After defeating her doubles partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands in three sets in the first round, Petrova lost again to Sharapova, 1–6, 2–6, in just over an hour. In Los Angeles, she was also seeded fifth, but lost to tenth seed Flavia Pennetta, 3–6, 3–6, in the third round. Petrova then headed to Cincinnati, where she was the defending champion and the tenth seed. She was unable to defend her title, losing in the first round to Alona Bondarenko, 2–6, 3–6. This caused her ranking to slip out of the top 10 to world no. 12. Petrova next played in Toronto as the tenth seed, where her poor form continued as she fell again to Maria Sharapova in the first round. Continuing her campaign on the 2009 US Open Series, she then received a wildcard as the fourth seed at the New Haven, but again lost to compatriot Anna Chakvetadze in the first round.

Nadia Petrova at the 2009 US Open

Her next tournament was the final Grand Slam of the year, the 2009 US Open. Petrova was the 13th seed and defeated Katarina Srebotnik and Julie Coin in the first and second round in straight sets. Petrova then got past world no. 22 Zheng Jie. Petrova was defeated in the fourth round by unseeded American Melanie Oudin, 6–1, 6–7(2), 3–6. However, her ranking improved one spot to world mo. 12.

Petrova then headed to Quebec to defend her title at the 2009 Bell Challenge. Petrova was the top seed and advanced to the quarterfinals with wins over Carly Gullickson and Madison Brengle in straight sets. Here, Petrova faced fifth seed Melinda Czink and was a set down when she was forced to retire due to a viral illness. Czink would go on to win the title. However, Nadia quickly returned to action in Tokyo as 13th seed, but continued a dismal season, losing in the second round to Magdaléna Rybáriková, 2–6, 2–6. She slipped to world no. 17 as a result of this bad form.

Nadia then participated at China Open, where she was 13th seed. She beat her compatriot Alla Kudryavtseva in the first round and world no. 24 Daniela Hantuchová in the second round. She played one of her best matches in 2009 by beating Serena Williams in a thriller three-set match in the third round, despite the fact that Williams was just about to snitch back the world no. 1 ranking from Dinara Safina the following week. Petrova then survived another three-setter against Peng Shuai in the quarterfinals. This was only Petrova's second semifinal of the year, but she lost to the reigning French Open Champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, 1–6, 3–6.

Petrova then competed in the Kremlin Cup as the fifth seed. She defeated Yana Buchina in the first round, but fell to Alona Bondarenko in the second round.

Petrova finished her poor year with a 30–21 singles record and ranked world no. 20. It was by far her worst year on tour as she captured no titles for the first time since 2004. Her highlights of the year are reaching the semifinals in Ponte Vedra Beach and Beijing and reaching the quarterfinals in Quebec City.

2010: First Grand Slam Doubles Final

Petrova's started her year at the Brisbane International in Australia. After drawing comeback queen Justine Henin, Petrova lost in a close 5–7, 5–7 match. She then competed in the Medibank International Sydney, but lost again in the opening round to 39-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm, 3–6, 7–5, 4–6.

Seeded 19th at the 2010 Australian Open, Petrova reached the third round by defeating Edina Gallovits and Kaia Kanepi. In the third round, Petrova caused a huge upset by beating 15th seed Kim Clijsters 6–0 6–1 in 52 minutes. Clijsters was the bookmaker's second favourite to win the tournament. She followed that with another upset in the fourth round over third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. This was the second time in Petrova's career that she had reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. She fell to former world no. 1 Justine Henin, 6–7, 5–7, in a tight match after leading 3–0 in the second set.

After a first-round defeat to Stefanie Vögele in Dubai, Petrova next competed at the Premier Mandatory events in Indian Wells and Miami. At the 2010 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Petrova was seeded 16th. After receiving a bye to the second round, she dispatched Patty Schnyder and then Peng Shuai, before losing in the fourth round to second seed Caroline Wozniacki, 3–6, 6–3, 0–6. At the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Petrova was again seeded 16th, but fell in the third round to 19th seed Daniela Hantuchová, 2–6, 4–6.

Petrova began her clay-court season in Charleston and won her first two matches in straight sets against Vania King and Aleksandra Wozniak, before losing to Wozniacki in the quarterfinals.

On European clay, Petrova was seeded 14th at the Italian Open. She advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Tathiana Garbin, Katarina Srebotnik, and Alexandra Dulgheru, but lost here to world no. 58 Ana Ivanovic, 2–6, 5–7. Petrova was seeded 16th at the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where she beat Elena Vesnina and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to advance to the third round. Here, Petrova had a fantastic win as she upset world no. 1 Serena Williams, 4–6, 6–2, 6–3. However, she fell to world no. 30 Lucie Šafářová in the quarterfinals.

Petrova was seeded 19th at the 2010 French Open. She defeated Zhang Shuai in the first round and the talented Ágnes Szávay in the second round. In the third round, Petrova fell a set behind against the in-form 15th seed and recent Madrid champion Aravane Rezaï, before coming back to take the second set. In the third set, Petrova saved three match points, as Rezaï served for the match at 5–4, before Petrova came back to serve for the match herself at 7–6. She too held three match points. Rezaï, however, broke back, and the match was postponed due to bad light. The match was completed the following day, when Petrova won, 6–7(2), 6–4, 10–8. She continued her success in the fourth round, where she stunned the world no. 2 Venus Williams, 6–4, 6–3. Petrova led by a set in the quarterfinal against fifth seed Elena Dementieva, but required treatment twice by the trainer during the match and limped to the finish line with Dementieva winning 2–6, 6–2, 6–0. Despite this loss, Petrova's quarterfinal run caused her ranking to improve to world no. 13.

Beginning the grass-court season in Eastbourne, Petrova was unseeded and came back from a set down to win in a final set tie-break against Karolina Šprem in the first round. In the second round, Petrova was heavily defeated, 6–2, 6–0, by eventual champion Ekaterina Makarova. Petrova was seeded 12th at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. She defeated Tatjana Malek in the first round and Yung-Jan Chan in the second. Petrova then fell to 17th seed Justine Henin in the third round, 1–6, 4–6. This caused her ranking to slip to world no. 19.

Petrova next played at the 2010 Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego in her first event of the 2010 US Open Series. Unseeded, she was defeated in three sets in the first round by world no. 32 Yaroslava Shvedova, 7–5, 4–6, 1–6. Petrova was seeded 15th at the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati, but was forced to retire due to heat stress while trailing 7–6(4), 5–3 to Christina McHale.

Petrova was seeded 18th at the 2010 Rogers Cup in Montreal and won a tough opener against Lucie Šafářová. In the second round, Petrova faced former world no. 1 Dinara Safina and despite serving 15 aces, she was defeated, 5–7, 6–4, 4–6. Petrova played the final event of the US Open Series in New Havan at the 2010 Pilot Pen Tennis, where she received a wild card to play as the eighth seed. In the first round, she came from a set down to beat Varvara Lepchenko. She then defeated her former doubles partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands to advance to the quarterfinals. She then had an impressive 6–2, 6–1 victory over second seed Samantha Stosur for her fourth top-10 win of the season. She defeated Maria Kirilenko in her semifinal match, but was beaten by Caroline Wozniacki in the final, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6.

Petrova was seeded 17th at the 2010 US Open, the final Grand Slam of the year. Despite her recent final appearance in New Havan, Petrova suffered a shock first-round defeat at the hands of world no. 38 Andrea Petkovic, 2–6, 6–4, 6–7(4). However, partnering with Liezel Huber, she had her best run in a Grand Slam by reaching the final, where they faced Yaroslava Shvedova and Vania King. Despite having a championship point, they eventually lost, 6–2, 4–6, 6–7(4), after the match got postponed due to rain.

Petrova bounced back in singles at the 2010 Hansol Korea Open in Seoul. As the top seed, Petrova's first-round opponent, was the world no. 41 Jarmila Groth, who had captured her first WTA title the previous week in Guangzhou. However, Petrova came through comfortably. She then defeated Vania King, 3–6, 4–6, to advance to the quarterfinals, where she thrashed Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, 6–2, 6–1. She then fell to Klára Zakopalová.

Petrova was the 15th seed at the 2010 Toray Pan Pacific Open, but fell to Roberta Vinci in the first round. Nadia ended her cooperation with her coach Vladimir Platenik. She finished the 2010 season ranked world no. 15.

2011

Petrova began 2011 by suffering two first round losses at Brisbane and Sydney in the hands of Czechs Petra Kvitová and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová respectively. At the Australian Open, where she was the 13th seed, she reached the third round after defeating Ksenia Pervak and Alicia Molik. There, she lost to Ekaterina Makarova in a tight three-setter. Petrova then reached the second round at Paris where she lost to Jelena Dokic after defeating Virginie Razzano in the first round. At Doha, she defeated Roberta Vinci in the opening round before succumbing to Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets.

At the 2011 BNP Paribas Open, Petrova was the 20th seed and received a first round bye. She reached the fourth round, losing to China's Peng Shuai. She then retired against Sabine Lisicki in the second round at Miami after receiving a first round bye. At the 2011 Family Circle Cup, Petrova lost in the third round to Peng again. During the clay court season, Petrova suffered early losses in the opening round at Madrid and Rome to Vania King and Ana Ivanovic respectively. She then reached the quarterfinals at Strasbourg, losing to Daniela Hantuchová in straight sets. At the 2011 French Open, Petrova was the 26th seed and suffered a first round loss to Australian Anastasia Rodionova.

At the 2011 Aegon International, Petrova lost to 7th seed Samantha Stosur in the first round. She then reached the 4th round at Wimbledon after defeating Vesna Dolonc, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Kateryna Bondarenko. She consequently lost to Victoria Azarenka in straight sets. Petrova kicked off her US Open series campaign by winning the inaugural Citi Open in Washington, D.C.. She defeated top seed Shahar Pe'er for the title. At Toronto, she lost in the second round to 3rd seed Vera Zvonareva. The following week at Cincinnati, Petrova managed to reach the quarterfinals after defeating Vinci, Ivanovic and Christina McHale. There, she lost to Andrea Petkovic. The week before the US Open, Petrova lost to Polona Hercog in the first round at New Haven. At the 2011 US Open, Petrova lost to eventual champion Stosur in the 3rd round.

At the China Open, Petrova an opening round loss to Klára Zakopalová. At the Kremlin Cup, she defeated Evgeniya Rodina before losing to Vera Dushevina in the second round. Petrova qualified for the 2011 Tournament of Champions in Bali. She advanced to the semifinals where she lost to Ivanovic.

2012

Petrova was seeded 29th at the Australian Open. She reached the second round by defeating Andrea Hlaváčková, but fell easy to Italian Sara Errani, 2–6, 2–6. Then she played as the 30th seed at the 2012 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where after upsetting sixth seed Samantha Stosur in the third round, she lost to fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko, 1–6, 7–5, 2–6. She was the 32nd seed at the 2012 Sony Ericcsson Open, where she lost in the second round to Simona Halep, 3–6, 2–6.

She began the clay-court season at the 2012 Family Circle Cup, where she was seeded 13th. She upset eighth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round. She lost in the quarterfinals to Polona Hercog, 1–6, 2–6. Her next tournament was the 2012 Estoril Open, where she was the seventh seed and lost in the quarterfinals to the top seed Roberta Vinci, 2–6, 6–1, 4–6. The rest of her clay-court season was dismal, with a 3–3 win-loss record from Madrid through Brussels. She was the 27th seed at the 2012 French Open and lost in the third round to sixth seed Samantha Stosur, 3–6, 3–6.

Her only Wimbledon warm-up tournament was the 2012 UNICEF Open, where she was seeded eighth. She beat Kiki Bertens in the first round, Anabel Medina Garrigues in the second round, and third seed Dominika Cibulková in the quarterfinals to reach her first semifinal of the year. There she defeated Kirsten Flipkens, 6–4, 6–2. In her first WTA final of the year she defeated Urszula Radwańska, 6–4, 6–3 to win her 11th WTA title. It was her first title on grass, and she also bounced back into the top 20, the first time she had been there since March 2011. She then played at Wimbledon, where she lost in the third round to Camila Giorgi, 3–6, 6–7(6). This was the second time she had lost to Giorgi this year.

Petrova reached the semifinals of the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad, losing to Dominika Cibulková, 6–7, 1–6.

Petrova then played at the summer Olympics in London, where she was defeated by top seed Victoria Azarenka in the third round. She then reached the fourth round at the 2012 US Open, where she fell to third seed and compatriot Maria Sharapova, despite being up 2–0 in the deciding set.

After the US Open, Petrova entered the Toray Pan Pacific Open and was seeded 17th. In the first round, she swept past Peng of China with a comfortable win. In the second round, she faced Romanian Simona Halep, whom she defeated. In the third round, she faced a tough battle against Petra Martić, but eventually prevailed. In the quarterfinals, Petrova upset the sixth seed Sara Errani. Next she faced the eighth seed Sam Stosur, whom she eventually defeated comfortably. This meant that Petrova reached her second final of the year, where she faced third seed Agnieszka Radwańska, the defending champion. In the final, Petrova defeated Radwańska, 6–0, 1–6, 6–3, to win her biggest tournament to date. This was Petrova's 12th WTA singles title. She won her 13th singles title in Sofia, Bulgaria, defeating Caroline Wozniacki in the final.

2013: Downfall

Petrova lost in the first round of the Australian open to Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm. She made the third round of Doha, losing to Petra Kvitová in three sets. In Dubai, she made the quarterfinals, succumbing to Sara Errani, also in three sets. At the French Open she lost in the first round to 89th ranked Monica Puig. She also lost the first round in to Karolína Plíšková and qualifier Julia Glushko at Wimbledon and U.S Open respectively. Due to poor results of the year, Petrova ended 2013 ranked World No. 102.

2014: Out of Top 300

Petrova withdrew all the tournaments in the Australian season due to the death of her mother. On 9 September 2014, Shamil Tarpishchev, president of the Russian Tennis Federation, confirmed that Petrova will soon announce her retirement from tennis, though she later disproved him.

2015– 2017

Petrova did not play at all in 2015. Petrova announced retirement from professional tennis in January 2017.

Doubles

Petrova has also had success in doubles, reaching a career high of no. 3 in the doubles rankings. She has 21 doubles titles, 8 of them with Meghann Shaughnessy, including the prestigious year-ending WTA Tour Championships in 2004, where they beat Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs in the final. She also has victories at the Tier I events in Moscow, Key Biscayne, Berlin, Rome, and Montreal, all but the Montreal title with Meghann Shaughnessy and the aforementioned other one with Martina Navratilova. In 2002 and 2003, she also reached the finals of three Tier I events with Jelena Dokić. In 2010, Petrova partnered with top-10 doubles players Samantha Stosur and Liezel Huber. In 2011, Petrova partnered with Huber and Anastasia Rodionova. Petrova and Kirilenko played together during the 2012 Olympic season.

In 2013, she partnered Katarina Srebotnik, and they won over Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in Sydney. They were eliminated in the third round at the Australian Open, but they made the final in Qatar, Dubai, and Indian Wells.

Singles

Doubles