Viktoria Milvidskaia Belinsky

Viktoria Mikhailovna Milvidskaia Belinsky (née Milvidskaia, 20 April 1967) is a former professional tennis player from Russia. Her highest WTA rankings were 168 in singles and 145 in doubles.

Viktoria Milvidskaia Belinsky

Full name	Viktoria Mikhailovna Milvidskaia
Country (sports)	Soviet Union  Russia
Residence	New York City and Miami, United States
Born	(1967-04-20) 20 April 1967 Moscow, Soviet Union
Turned pro	1983
Retired	1994
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$71,427
Singles
Career record	99–65
Career titles	0 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 168 (28 September 1992)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	Q2 (1991)
French Open	Q1 (1991)
Wimbledon	Q2 (1992)
US Open	2R (1992)
Doubles
Career record	84–39
Career titles	0 WTA, 14 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 145 (29 October 1990)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	1R (1991)
French Open	1R (1991)
Medal record Representing the  Soviet Union Universiade 1987 Zagreb Doubles Friendship Games 1984 Women's singles 1984 Women's doubles

Early life

Belinsky began playing tennis at the age of seven in Moscow. She played for the famous Spartak tennis club and her coaches were Alexandra Granaturova and Larisa Preobrazhenskaya.[1]

In 1983, she won the First International Tournament in Moscow which earned her the honour of Master of Sports of the USSR, International Class (equates to international champion). This was the start of her professional tennis career.

Professional career

She was a member of the USSR national tennis team (1983–1989) and represented the USSR in many different tournaments around the world. In 1984, she became the youngest USSR national champion. From 1984 to 1992, she was one of the top ten tennis players in the country.

Belinsky played in all Grand Slam tournaments. She had career wins over Manon Bollegraf, Tami Whitlinger, Sandra Wasserman, Nicole Arendt, Inés Gorrochategui, Lubomira Bacheva, Regina Maršíková, Andrea Strnadová, Sabine Hack, and Radka Bobková, and stopped playing in 1993 due to a knee injury. That same year, she moved to the United States.

Belinsky has an M.A. in physical education from the State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports in Moscow. She received this degree May 1989.

From 2005 to 2008, Belinsky worked at the Russian NTV PLUS Tennis Channel. Her program was called, Tennis coach – is it nature or nurtured?. She interviewed many famous tennis coaches including: Wayne Bryan, Nick Bollettieri, Bud Collins, Robert Lansdorp, Carlos Rodriguez, Richard Williams. In addition, she has interviewed famous tennis players such as Serena Williams, Andy Roddick, Anna Kournikova, Marat Safin and Janko Tipsarević. She worked as a sports broadcaster at the Olympic Games in Beijing (2008), and as a tennis analyst at Wimbledon, the US Open, the Davis Cup, and the Federation Cup.

In 2014, Belinsky worked as a coach for the USTA Player Development program[2] in New York City.

In 2015, she moved to Florida and began working as a private coach with professional junior tennis players.

Junior Grand Slam finals

Girls' doubles (1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1984	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	Larisa Savchenko	Caroline Kuhlman Stephanie Rehe	3–6, 7–5, 4–6

ITF finals

Singles (1–4)

$100,000 tournaments

$75,000 tournaments

$50,000 tournaments

$25,000 tournaments

$10,000 tournaments

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	8 September 1986	Zagreb, Yugoslavia	Hard	Lilian Kelaidis	2–6, 7–5, 3–6
Winner	2.	30 March 1987	Bari, Italy	Clay	Aida Halatian	1–6, 6–1, 7–5
Runner-up	3.	14 September 1987	Sofia, Bulgaria	Clay	Eugenia Maniokova	1–6, 0–6
Runner-up	4.	9 April 1990	Bari, Italy	Clay	Laura Golarsa	3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	5.	16 July 1990	Darmstadt, West Germany	Clay	Cristina Tessi	1–6, 6–7

Doubles (14–2)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	30 December 1986	Chicago, United States	Hard	Natalia Egorova	Elizabeth Evans Jennifer Prah	6–1, 6–1
Runner-up	2.	6 January 1986	El Paso, United States	Clay	Natasha Zvereva	Cammy MacGregor Cynthia MacGregor	6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Winner	3.	8 September 1986	Zagreb, Yugoslavia	Clay	Natalia Egorova	Renata Šašak Karmen Škulj	6–2, 6–3
Winner	4.	15 September 1986	Sofia, Bulgaria	Clay	Natalia Egorova	Laura Golarsa Marianne van der Torre	6–0, 6–2
Winner	5.	30 March 1987	Bari, Italy	Clay	Aida Halatian	Karin Moos Sarah Sullivan	6–2, 2–6, 7–6
Winner	6.	20 April 1987	Monviso, Italy	Clay	Aida Halatian	Hana Fukárková Iwona Kuczyńska	7–5, 6–3
Winner	7.	28 September 1987	Bol, Croatia	Clay	Elena Brioukhovets	Aida Halatian Eugenia Maniokova	6–4, 5–7, 6–4
Winner	8.	16 November 1987	Croyden, United Kingdom	Carpet	Paulette Moreno	Eugenia Maniokova Natalia Medvedeva	6–4, 6–1
Winner	9.	12 June 1988	Modena, Italy	Clay	Eugenia Maniokova	Yayuk Basuki Ei Iida	6–3, 4–6, 6–0
Winner	10.	19 June 1988	Salerno, Italy	Clay	Eugenia Maniokova	Anne Aallonen Yayuk Basuki	1–6, 7–5, 6–4
Winner	11.	26 June 1988	Arezzo, Italy	Clay	Eugenia Maniokova	Yayuk Basuki Titia Wilmink	0–6, 7–5, 6–1
Winner	12.	15 August 1988	Rebecq, Belgium	Clay	Elena Brioukhovets	Ilana Berger Anat Varon	6–2, 6–2
Winner	13.	29 August 1988	Nivelles, Belgium	Clay	Elena Brioukhovets	Réka Szikszay Amy van Buuren	1–6, 7–5, 6–1
Winner	14.	16 April 1990	Marsa, Malta	Clay	Anna Mirza	Eva Bes Silvia Ramón-Cortés	6–2, 7–6
Runner-up	15.	30 July 1990	Rheda-Wiedenbrück, Germany	Clay	Agnese Blumberga	Petra Holubová Sylvia Štefková	4–6, 4–6
Winner	16.	8 July 1991	Erlangen, Germany	Clay	Maja Živec-Škulj	Louise Stacey Angie Woolcock	6–4, 6–4

Other finals

Singles

Outcome	Year	Championship	Location	Opponent	Score
Winner	1984	USSR Tennis National Championship	Tashkent, Soviet Union	Oksana Lifanova	6–0, 6–4
Finalist	1981	European Junior Championships 14&U[3]	Serramazzoni, Italy	Manuela Maleeva	2–6, 4–6
Finalist	1987	USSR Tennis National Championship	Tallinn, Soviet Union	Natasha Zvereva	1–6, 2–6

Medal	Date	Tournament	Location	Opponent	Score
Silver	August 1984	1984 Friendship Games	Katowice, Poland	Elena Yelisieyenko	6–0, 6–4

Doubles

Outcome	Year	Championship	Location	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1984	European Championship[4]	Ostend, Belgium	Natalia Egorova	Isabelle Demongeot Nathalie Tauziat	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Finalist	1981	European Junior Championships 14 & Under[5]	Serramazzoni, Italy	Irina Zvereva	Manuela Maleeva Katerina Maleeva	3–6, 7–5, 1–6

Outcome	Date	Tournament	Location	Partner	Opponents	Score
Gold	July 1987	1987 Universiade Games	Zagreb, Yugoslavia	Leila Meskhi	Iva Budařová Nora Bajchiková	6–3, 6–4

References

1. "How to Grow a Super-Athlete". The New York Times. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
2. "Player Development Home | Player Development". USTA. Archived from the original on January 4, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
3. "European Junior Championship". Tennis Europe. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
4. "European junior Championships". Tennis Europe. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
5. "European Junior Championships". Tennis Europe. Retrieved March 18, 2016.

External links

• Viktoria Milvidskaia Belinsky at the Women's Tennis Association
• Viktoria Milvidskaia Belinsky at the International Tennis Federation
• Tennis Abstract: Viktoria Milvidskaia WTA Match Results.
• Australian Open – Results Archive – Viktoria Milvidskaia.
• Tennis Stats – H2H Stats – MatchStat Viktoria Milvidskaia.
• WAVE OF FUTURE HERE FROM SOVIET The New York Times.
• NTV Interview: "So far and so close". Interview with Anna Kurnikova by Viktoria Milvidskaia.