Tatiana Golovin

Tatiana Golovin (Russian: Татья́на Григóрьевна Головина́, tr. Tatyana Grigoryevna Golovina; born 25 January 1988) is a Russian-born French professional tennis player. She won the 2004 French Open mixed-doubles event, partnering with Richard Gasquet, and reached the singles quarterfinals at the 2006 US Open, losing to the eventual champion Maria Sharapova. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 12. In 2008, she was diagnosed with lower back inflammation and was forced to stop playing competitive tennis indefinitely.[2]

Tatiana Golovin

Country (sports)	France
Residence	New York, U.S.[1]
Born	(1988-01-25) 25 January 1988 Moscow, Soviet Union
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro	2002
Retired	2008 (first retire)
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$1,923,053
Singles
Career record	165–93
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 12 (4 February 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
Highest ranking	No. 91 (13 August 2007)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
French Open	W (2004)

Training

Born in Moscow, Golovin spent six years at Nick Bollettieri's tennis camp in Bradenton, Florida. In her career, she was coached by former world No. 1 Mats Wilander as well as Brad Gilbert and Dean Goldfine.

Career

2002–03: tour debut

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. In 2003, Golovin won her first WTA Tour main-draw match at Indian Wells against No. 146 Gisela Dulko.

2004–05

At the Australian Open, Golovin (ranked No. 354) upset No. 14 seed Anna Smashnova in the second round and No. 23 seed Lina Krasnoroutskaya in the third round, then lost to No. 25 seed Lisa Raymond in the fourth round. It was her second Grand Slam tournament.

At Roland Garros, Golovin won the mixed doubles trophy with Richard Gasquet, as a wildcard team, defeating Cara Black/Wayne Black. At Wimbledon, she reached the fourth round, with wins over Alina Jidkova, Francesca Schiavone, and Emmanuelle Gagliardi, then lost to world No. 10 Serena Williams.

Golovin reached the semifinals at the Paris Indoors, losing to Mary Pierce, after having beaten world No. 10 Elena Dementieva for her first top 10 win. In her first grass-court main draw at Birmingham, Golovin reached her first WTA Tour singles final, which she lost to Maria Sharapova in three sets. Golovin reached her first Tier I quarterfinal in Montreal at the Rogers Cup, losing to Vera Zvonareva. Afterward, she reached the quarterfinals 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 semifinals, then lost 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).

Golovin reached the final in Tokyo at the Japan Open as No. 3 seed, losing to No. 2 seed Nicole Vaidišová. She was also five-time semifinalist on four different surfaces: on hardcourt at Gold Coast, losing to Schnyder in three 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 semifinal there, 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, falling to Justine Henin-Hardenne in two sets; and grass at Birmingham, losing to Maria Sharapova. She made her top 20 debut (at No. 18) after her semifinal appearance at Charleston.

2006–07

At her first tournament of the year in Gold Coast, Golovin reached the quarterfinals, losing to finalist Flavia Pennetta in three sets. Golovin reached her third consecutive Paris Indoors semifinal, defeating Nadia Petrova in the quarterfinals. 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.

Golovin reached her second career Tier I semifinal at Miami, where she defeated world No. 8 Elena Dementieva in the fourth round for her 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, 3–4.[3]

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 to losing to No. 2 seed Patty Schnyder. Golovin then reached the quarterfinals of the US Open by 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.

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 quarterfinals, and eighth seed Patty Schnyder in the semifinals. However, she lost in the final to Nadia Petrova.

At the Australian Open Golovin fell in the third round to 16th seed Shahar Pe'er in a three-hour match. At the 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.

On April 8, 2007, Golovin won her first WTA title at the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, defeating Nadia Petrova.[4]

Golovin at the 2007 Fortis Championships Luxembourg

Later in the year, Golovin won her second career title in Portorož, defeating Katarina Srebotnik in the final. She then competed in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, and reached the final, losing to Justine Henin. Two weeks later, Golovin lost to Henin in the final at the Zurich Open.

2008: retirement

Golovin entered the Australian Open as the No. 13 seed, her highest seeding in a grand slam. She lost in the second round to Aravane Rezaï, another French player.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she had partnered with Pauline Parmentier, but the team had to withdraw due to Golovin's back injury. After missing a total of four successive months due to medical concerns with her back, she eventually pulled out of the US Open.[5] She was diagnosed with lower back inflammation and was forced to stop playing competitive tennis indefinitely.[2]

She appeared in the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition alongside Daniela Hantuchová and Maria Kirilenko in a pictoral titled "Volley of the Dolls".[6]

During this time Golovin forged a career in broadcasting, working for French television.[7]

2019–20: return to professional tennis

On September 13, 2019, Golovin announced on BeIn Sports that she had been working hard to come back to the WTA Tour next season. But that things had been progressing so well, she was considering moving her return date up to mid-October.[8]

Grand Slam finals

Mixed doubles: 1 (1–0)

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponents	Score
2004	French Open	Richard Gasquet	Cara Black Wayne Black	6–3, 6–4

WTA career finals

Singles: 7 (2–5)

Legend - Titles

Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)

WTA Championships (0–0)

Tier I/Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–1)

Tier II/Premier (1–2)

Tier III or IV or V/International (1–2)

Outcome	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	0–1	13 June 2004	DFS Classic, Birmingham	Grass	Maria Sharapova	6–4, 2–6, 1–6
Runner-up	0–2	9 October 2005	AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo	Hard (i)	Nicole Vaidišová	6–7^4, 2–3 ret.
Runner-up	0–3	8 October 2006	Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart	Hard (i)	Nadia Petrova	3–6, 6–7^4
Winner	1–3	8 April 2007	Bausch & Lomb Championships, Amelia Island	Clay	Nadia Petrova	6–2, 6–1
Winner	2–3	22 September 2007	Banka Koper Slovenia Open, Portorož	Hard	Katarina Srebotnik	2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	2–4	7 October 2007	Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart	Hard (i)	Justine Henin	6–2, 2–6, 1–6
Runner-up	2–5	21 October 2007	Zurich Open, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Justine Henin	4–6, 4–6

Singles performance timeline

Tournament	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Career Win-Loss
Grand Slam tournaments
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
US Open	A	3R	3R	QF	1R	A	8–4
Win–Loss	0–1	8–4	5–4	5–4	3–3	1–1	22–17
Year-end Championships
WTA Tour Championships	A	A	A	A	A	A	0–0
WTA Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 tournaments
Indian Wells Open	2R	2R	4R	3R	QF	A	9–5
Miami Open	1R	4R	4R	SF	3R	A	11–5
Charleston Open	A	A	SF	A	QF	A	9–2
German Open	A	1R	A	A	A	1R	0–2
Italian Open	A	2R	1R	A	A	A	1–2
Canadian Open	A	QF	2R	1R	SF	A	9–4
Pan Pacific Open	A	A	A	1R	A	A	1–1
Kremlin Cup	A	A	A	A	A	A	0–0
Career statistics
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	–

• 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. She has two sisters, Olga and Oxana.

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.[9]

She also works for French television, as a tennis commentator.[7]

On March 22, 2015, she announced that she was expecting a child with her partner, French rugby player Hugo Bonneval.[10] Daughter Anastasia was born July 10, 2015. Golovin and Bonneval added a son to the family in Nov. 2017.

References

1. Twitter: Tatiana Golovin
2. Archived February 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
3. "Sharapova survives after Golovin injury; Roddick ousted at Nasdaq". USA Today. 31 March 2006. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
4. "Golovin wins first WTA title at Bausch & Lomb". ESPN. 8 April 2007. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
5. "Golovin out of Olympics". Skysports.com. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
6. Golovin, Hantuchova, Kirilenko in SI swimsuit issue Archived 2009-02-15 at the Wayback Machine Tennis.com, February 11, 2009
7. Bishop, Greg (June 5, 2012). "Retired at 24, Tatiana Golovin Has Press Box View of French Open". The New York Times.
8. "It's comeback week on the WTA Tour as Golovin joins up". Tennis.life. 2019-09-13. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
9. "Peace and Sport". Peace-sport.org. Retrieved 3 July 2011.

External links

• Tatiana Golovin at the Women's Tennis Association
• Tatiana Golovin at the International Tennis Federation
• Tatiana Golovin at the Fed Cup

Awards
Preceded by Maria Sharapova	WTA Newcomer of the Year 2004	Succeeded by Sania Mirza