# Julia Vakulenko

Julia Olehivna Vakulenko (Ukrainian: Юлія Оле́гівна Вакуленко; born 10 July 1983) is a Ukraine-born former tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of No. 32 in November 2007.
In April 2008, Vakulenko renounced her Ukrainian citizenship, and then announced her decision to acquire the citizenship of Spain where she's lived for the last ten years.

## Career

At the 2006 French Open, Vakulenko reached the third round. At the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, she withdrew during the first round due to injury.
Julia became Kim Clijsters' last opponent in her professional career (before Clijsters' return in 2009). Vakulenko won 7–6$^{(3)}$, 6–3 in the second round of J&S Cup in Warsaw, Poland on 3 May 2007. This earned her the nickname "Kimmie Killer".
A week later, Julia defeated world No. 3, Amélie Mauresmo, at the German Open in Berlin, 2–6, 6–1, 6–2 (her career best), and then defeated Dinara Safina, 6–3, 5–7, 6–3, before retiring in the first set in the semifinals to eventual champion Ana Ivanovic due to an injury.
On 28 August 2007, in the first round of the US Open, Julia defeated ninth seed Daniela Hantuchová, 6–4, 3–6, 6–1. She eventually reached the fourth round, her best performance at a major, before falling to Ágnes Szávay.
At the final event of the season, the Bell Challenge held in Quebec City, Vakulenko reached the first WTA Tour final of her career. En route, she beat Rossana de los Ríos, home favourite Stéphanie Dubois, Olga Govortsova and Julie Ditty. In the final, she lost 4–6, 1–6 to three-time Grand Slam champion Lindsay Davenport, who was playing in only her third event since giving birth.
After changing of her citizenship from Ukraine to Spain in April 2008, she planned to play for Spain in the Fed Cup, but wasn't able to compete in the 2008 Olympics due to lack of time to be included in Spain's application.

## WTA Tour finals
### Singles: 1 (runner-up)

* Winner – Legend
* Grand Slam
* Tier I
* Tier II
* Tier III, IV & V (0–1)
| Result | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | Nov 2007 | Bell Challenge, Canada | Tier III | Carpet (i) | Lindsay Davenport | 4–6, 1–6 |

## ITF finals

* Legend
* $75,000 tournaments
* $50,000 tournaments
* $25,000 tournaments
* $10,000 tournaments

### Singles (7–6)

| Result | No. | Date | Location | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 1. | 28 September 1998 | Lerida, Spain | Clay | Mariam Ramón Climent | 1–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 2. | 6 December 1998 | Mallorca, Spain | Clay | Laura Pena | 6–4, 6–1 |
| Loss | 3. | 3 April 2000 | Dinan, France | Clay | Melanie Schnell | 6–2, 1–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 4. | 18 June 2000 | Lenzerheide, Switzerland | Clay | Kira Nagy | 2–6, 6–3, 6–7 |
| Loss | 5. | 10 July 2000 | Getxo, Spain | Clay | María José Martínez Sánchez | 4–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 6. | 5 August 2001 | Saint-Gaudens, France | Clay | Céline Beigbeder | 4–6, 1–6 |
| Win | 7. | 17 November 2002 | Deauville, France | Clay (i) | Virginie Pichet | 6–2, 6–1 |
| Win | 8. | 3 December 2002 | Daytona Beach, United States | Hard | Bethanie Mattek-Sands | 6–4, 6–0 |
| Win | 9. | 29 September 2003 | Girona, Spain | Clay | Barbora Strýcová | 7–5, 2–0 ret. |
| Win | 10. | 8 February 2009 | Rancho Mirage, United States | Hard | Lauren Albanese | 6–0, 6–1 |
| Loss | 11. | 16 February 2009 | Surprise, United States | Hard | Yanina Wickmayer | 7–6$^{(0)}$, 3–6, 3–4 ret. |
| Win | 12. | 27 June 2009 | Périgueux, France | Clay | Sophie Ferguson | 6–2, 7–5 |
| Win | 13. | 10 August 2009 | Koksijde, Belgium | Clay | Iryna Brémond | 7–5, 6–1 |

### Doubles (0–1)

| Result | Date | Location | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 23 November 2003 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | Núria Roig | Marta Fraga Adriana González-Peñas | 3–6, 3–6 |

## Singles performance timeline

Key :
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | Career W-L |
| Grand Slam tournaments |||||||||
| Australian Open | Q1 | A | Q3 | 2R | A | A | 2R | 1R | A | Q1 | 2–3 |
| French Open | A | Q2 | 3R | 1R | A | 3R | 1R | 1R | Q1 | A | 4–5 |
| Wimbledon | Q3 | Q2 | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | Q1 | A | 1–6 |
| US Open | Q3 | A | 2R | 2R | A | A | 4R | 1R | Q1 | A | 5–4 |
| GS Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 4–4 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 12–18 |
| Tier I tournaments |||||||||
| Doha$^1$ | Not Tier I or Was Not Held | Not Tier I or Was Not Held | Not Tier I or Was Not Held | Not Tier I or Was Not Held | Not Tier I or Was Not Held | Not Tier I or Was Not Held | A | 0–0 |
| Indian Wells | A | A | 1R | A | A | 1R | A | 0–2 |
| Miami | A | A | 1R | A | A | 3R | A | 2–2 |
| Charleston | 1R | A | A | A | 3R | 1R | A | 2–3 |
| Berlin | A | A | 1R | A | 2R | SF | A | 5–3 |
| Rome | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1–2 |
| Montreal/Toronto | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | | 0–1 |
| Tokyo | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | | 0–1 |
| Moscow | A | A | A | A | A | A | | 0–0 |
| San Diego$^1$ | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | - | 0–1 |
| Zurich$^1$ | A | A | A | A | A | A | - | 0–0 |
| Tier II tournaments |||||||||
| Amelia Island$^1$ | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | - | 1–1 |
| Warsaw$^1$ | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | 3R | - | 4–3 |
| Stanford$^1$ | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | - | 0–1 |
| Los Angeles$^1$ | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | - | 0–1 |
| Luxembourg$^1$ | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | - | 0–1 |
| Stuttgart$^1$ | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | - | 1–1 |
| Linz$^1$ | A | A | A | A | A | QF | - | 3–1 |
| Tier III tournaments |||||||||
| Birmingham$^1$ | A | A | A | A | A | 3R | - | 2–1 |
| Tier IV tournaments |||||||||
| Hyderabad$^1$ | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | - | 0–1 |
| Tier V tournaments |||||||||
| Casablanca$^1$ | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | - | 0–1 |
| Year-end ranking | 209 | 73 | 129 | 185 | 120 | 32 | | N/A |
* $^1$ Doha became a Tier I tournament in 2008, replacing San Diego and Zürich

## Head-to-head record

Players who have been ranked world No. 1 are in boldface.
* Dinara Safina 1–1
* Jelena Kostanić 1–0
* Svetlana Kuznetsova
* Flavia Pennetta 2–1
* Daniela Hantuchová 1–1
* Elena Dementieva 0–1
* Patty Schnyder
* Francesca Schiavone
* Anna Chakvetadze 1–0
* Maria Sharapova 0–1
* Ai Sugiyama 1–0
* Jelena Janković 1–1
* Amélie Mauresmo 1–1
* Kim Clijsters 1–1
* Caroline Wozniacki 0–1
* Anna Kournikova 0–1
* Lindsay Davenport 0–1
* Ana Ivanovic 0–1
* Justine Henin 0–1
* Serena Williams 0–1
* Petra Kvitová 0–1
* Mary Pierce 0–1
* Kimiko Date-Krumm
* Paola Suárez
* Alicia Molik
* Marion Bartoli 0–1

## Top 10 wins

| Season | 2007 | Total |
| Wins | 3 | 3 |
| # | Player | Rank | Event | Surface | Round | Score | JVR |
| 2007 ||||||||
| 1. | Kim Clijsters | No. 4 | Warsaw Open | Clay | 2nd round | 7–6$^{(7–3)}$, 6–3 | No. 61 |
| 2. | Amélie Mauresmo | No. 3 | German Open | Clay | 3rd round | 2–6, 6–1, 6–2 | No. 53 |
| 3. | Dinara Safina | No. 10 | German Open | Clay | Quarterfinals | 6–3, 5–7, 6–3 | No. 53 |