Olga Puchkova

{{short description|Russian tennis player (born 1987)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}} {{Infobox tennis biography |name= Olga Puchkova Ольга Пучкова |image= Olga Puchkova 17Jun08 1356 (cropped).JPG |caption = Puchkova at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships |country= {{RUS}} (2002–) {{BLR}} (1990s-) |residence= Miami Shores, Florida, U.S. |birth_date= {{birth date and age|df=yes|1987|9|27}} |birth_place= Moscow, Russia |height= {{height|m=1.80}} |turnedpro= 2002 |plays= Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |careerprizemoney= $846,870 |singlesrecord= {{tennis record|won=374|lost=320}} |singlestitles= 7 ITF |highestsinglesranking= No. 32 (11 June 2007) |AustralianOpenresult= 2R (2007, 2008) |FrenchOpenresult= 2R (2007) |Wimbledonresult= 2R (2013) |USOpenresult= 3R (2012) |doublesrecord= {{tennis record|won=59|lost=87}} |doublestitles= 0 |highestdoublesranking= No. 247 (13 August 2012) |AustralianOpenDoublesresult= 1R (2007, 2008) |FrenchOpenDoublesresult= 1R (2007) |WimbledonDoublesresult= 1R (2007) |USOpenDoublesresult= 1R (2007) }}

'''Olga Alekseyevna Puchkova''' (also '''Poutchkova'''; {{langx|ru|links=no|Ольга Алексеевна Пучкова}}; {{langx|be|Вольга Аляксееўна Пучкова|links=no}}; born 27 September 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. As a junior, she played for Belarus,<ref name="Olga Poutchkova profile">[http://www.juniortennis.com/ajt/playerinfo.php?player_id=1628 Olga Poutchkova profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060505133548/http://www.juniortennis.com/ajt/playerinfo.php?player_id=1628 |date=5 May 2006 }}, Juniortennis.com</ref> and was sometimes listed as Belarusian professional.<ref>[http://championships.wimbledon.org/en_GB/bios/ws/wtaq509.html 2006 Wimbledon player record] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629072110/http://championships.wimbledon.org/en_GB/bios/ws/wtaq509.html |date=29 June 2008 }} For instance, Wimbledon listed her as a Belarusian in 2006 when she played in the qualifying.</ref>

==Career== ===Early years=== Olga Puchkova, coached by her father Alex Poutchkov, was No. 1 in the world in the ITF U12 rankings in 1999.<ref name="Olga Poutchkova profile"/> She won the U12 category in the Eddie Herr in 1999, where she beat Shahar Pe'er 6–2, 6–2 in the final,<ref>[http://www.juniortennis.com/Tournaments/tourna_live_home.php?tid=1286 Eddie Herr 1999] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071202085953/http://www.juniortennis.com/Tournaments/tourna_live_home.php?tid=1286 |date=2 December 2007 }}, Juniortennis.com</ref> and a week later was runner up in the U12 category at the Orange Bowl, where qualifier Tatiana Golovin beat her 6–4, 3–6, 6–4.<ref>[http://www.juniortennis.com/Tournaments/tourna_live_home.php?tid=1364 Orange Bowl 1999] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208192015/http://www.juniortennis.com/Tournaments/tourna_live_home.php?tid=1364 |date=8 December 2007 }}, Juniortennis.com</ref>

Puchkova made her debut on the U18 circuit 13 August 2000 at the USTA Junior International Grass Court Championships where she was defeated in the first round.<ref>[http://www.itftennis.com/juniors/tournaments/tournamentresults.asp?tournament=1100000646&event=1100003977 USTA Junior International Grass Court Championships 2000], International Tennis Federation</ref> Just a week later, at the USTA Junior International Hard Court Championships she secured her first win in a U18 doubles match playing alongside Brazilian Caroline Neves.<ref>[http://www.itftennis.com/juniors/tournaments/tournamentresults.asp?tournament=1100000658&event=1100004036 USTA Junior International Hard Court Championships 2000], International Tennis Federation</ref> Alongside American Nicole Pitts, she won her first U18 tournament (out of two in doubles) in Ecuador, January 2001.<ref>[http://www.itftennis.com/juniors/tournaments/tournamentoverview.asp?tournament=1100001786 Nicolas Macchiavello Almeida Cup 2001], International Tennis Federation</ref> She won her only U18 title in singles at the US Junior International Hard Court Championships in 2003, beating Jessi Robinson 6–2, 6–2 in the final.<ref>[http://www.itftennis.com/juniors/tournaments/tournamentoverview.asp?tournament=1100005079 US Junior International Hard Court Championships 2003], International Tennis Federation.</ref>

===ITF Circuit=== Puchkova started her ITF Women's Circuit career in March 2002 when she played in four tournaments in Australia, reaching the quarterfinals at Warrnambool and Benalla.<ref>[http://photo910.tripod.com/cgi-bin/wta.pl?p1=5117&p2=2002 Olga Poutchkova 2002 results] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311165531/http://photo910.tripod.com/cgi-bin/wta.pl?p1=5117&p2=2002 |date=11 March 2007 }}, www.photo-tennisdatabase.com</ref> In 2003, she reached the final at Miami in January and the semifinal at Houston in June, and won her first professional tournament at Baltimore in July 2003 when she beat Jewel Peterson 6–2, 6–4 in the final.<ref>[http://photo910.tripod.com/cgi-bin/wta.pl?p1=5117&p2=2003 Olga Poutchkova 2003 results] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040519064131/http://photo910.tripod.com/cgi-bin/wta.pl?p1=5117&p2=2003 |date=19 May 2004 }}, www.photo-tennisdatabase.com</ref> She won her second professional title 11 July 2004 in College Park, Maryland.<ref>[http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/women's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100010033 $25,000 College Park, MD 2004], International Tennis Federation</ref><ref>[http://photo910.tripod.com/cgi-bin/wta.pl?p1=5117&p2=2004 Olga Puchkova 2004 results] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311075010/http://photo910.tripod.com/cgi-bin/wta.pl?p1=5117&p2=2004 |date=11 March 2007 }}, www.photo-tennisdatabase.com</ref> She defeated top-seeded Maureen Drake in the second round and Rossana de los Ríos in the final.<ref>[http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/women's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100010033&event= $25,000 College Park, MD 2004 Results], International Tennis Federation</ref> In Pelham, Alabama, she reached another final, but was defeated by Slovak Zuzana Zemenová in three sets.<ref>[http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/women's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100010126&event= $25,000 Pelham, AL 2004], International Tennis Federation</ref> She reached her fifth ITF final in August 2005, beating Stéphanie Dubois en route. In the final, Ashley Harkleroad was too strong as she beat Puchkova to claim the Washington, D.C. title.<ref>[http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/women's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100012084&event= $75,000 Washington, DC 2005], International Tennis Federation</ref>

===2006: Breakthrough=== In 2006, she made her WTA Tour main-draw debut in Hobart, Australia as a qualifier; however she lost in the first round to Mara Santangelo.<ref name="wta1">{{Cite web |url=http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/players/playerprofiles/PlayerBio2.asp?PlayerID=310717 |title=Olga Poutchkova (Rus) 2006 in detail |access-date=27 September 2006 |archive-date=21 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070121232436/http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/players/playerprofiles/PlayerBio2.asp?PlayerID=310717 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Afterwards she tried to qualify for the 2006 Australian Open, but failed. She returned to the ITF Circuit and reached another final in Hammond, Louisiana at the end of March. She comfortably won the final, beating Andrea Hlaváčková for her third ITF title.<ref>[http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/women's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100013152&event= $25,000 Hammond, LA 2006], International Tennis Federation</ref>

Her first WTA Tour main-draw win in Birmingham followed in June, beating fellow qualifier Viktoriya Kutuzova. She then lost her second-round match against fourth seed fellow Russian Elena Likhovtseva.<ref name="wta1"/> Back in the ITF Circuit, she cruised to the final in Felixstowe's grass tournament, where she turned out to be way too strong for Australian Trudi Musgrave who was beaten in straight sets.<ref>[http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/women's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100013977&event= $25,000 Felixstowe 2006], ITF</ref> As the second seed in the Bronx, New York, she won yet another ITF title. Top seed Melinda Czink was already beaten in the first round by Dutch Elise Tamaëla. Puchkova herself won all her matches and faced Belarusian Tatiana Poutchek in the final, which was easily won by Puchkova.<ref>[http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/women's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100013962&event= $50,000 Bronx, New York 2006], International Tennis Federation</ref>

After failing to qualify for the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon earlier in 2006, she qualified for the US Open, beating Virginie Pichet, Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro and Ryōko Fuda.<ref>[http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/women's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100014312&event=1100081658 U.S. Open 2006 qualification], International Tennis Federation</ref> She then faced Marion Bartoli in the first round and was not able to excel against the 26th seed (6–4, 6–0).<ref>[http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/women's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100014312&event= U.S. Open 2006 main], International Tennis Federation</ref>

Puchkova reached her first tour final in Kolkata, India, in September 2006, losing to Martina Hingis but beating seventh seed Nicole Pratt en route.<ref>[http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/women's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100014502&event= Kolkata 2006], International Tennis Federation</ref> A week previously she had reached her first Tour singles quarterfinal at the Tier III Bali, Indonesia notching up her first top 20 victory along the way when beating Ana Ivanovic.<ref>[http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/women's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100014500&event= Bali 2006], International Tennis Federation</ref>

At the end of the season, Puchkova reached her second career final in Quebec City, Canada. She lost to Marion Bartoli 0–6, 0–6, becoming the first woman since 1993 to lose by that scoreline in a tour final, although she was injured during the final.<ref>[http://www.challengebell.com/horaire_resultats/horaire_resultats.asp Challengebell Open results] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061103191248/http://www.challengebell.com/horaire_resultats/horaire_resultats.asp |date=3 November 2006 }}, Challengebell.com</ref>

===2007–2009=== Puchkova made her top 100 debut in 2006, and peaked at a high of world No. 32 on 17 June 2007.<ref name="wta1"/> However, her results soon began to tail off, and she didn't reach another quarterfinal until her last tournament of the 2007 season in Quebec City. Prior to that, she failed to win back-to-back matches on the season, although after the Bell Challenge she managed to reach the final of an ITF event in Pittsburgh, losing to Ashley Harkleroad in three sets. By the end of the season, Puchkova's ranking had fallen to 92.

At the 2008 Australian Open, she won her first-round match, but lost 1–6, 5–7 to world No. 1, Justine Henin, in the second round. Her year would improve slightly as she finished runner-up in the Charlottesville ITF event, falling to Alexis King ranked 640 in the world. She had to attempt to qualify for the French Open before falling to eventual quarterfinalist Carla Suárez Navarro of Spain in the qualifying playoff round. She then fell at the same stage in Wimbledon qualifying to Eva Hrdinová. She failed to qualify for another main draw of a tour-level tournament in 2008, but did receive direct entry into the Bell Challenge, before losing in the second round to Melanie Oudin. Her last event ended in a first-round loss in San Diego, and her ranking dipped to 159. She went 15–28 on the season.

She fell in the final round of qualifying yet again in the 2009 Australian Open, and didn't enter into a WTA tournament until she was given the opportunity to qualify for the Bell Challenge. She did manage to qualify, but lost to Amra Sadiković in the opening main-draw round. 19–22 by the end of the season, Puchkova's woes continued and she was ranked 226 in her last tournament of the year in Toronto.

===2012–2013=== After a couple of years struggling with injuries and personal problems, Puchkova managed to finish 2012 in top 100 with a semifinal in Baku and reaching third round at the 2012 US Open. In 2013, she experienced some tough draws and had four first-round losses. But she turned tables around at the 2013 Brasil Tennis Cup, where she reached the final, beating Venus Williams en route. She lost to Monica Niculescu, in a three-setter.

==Grand Slam singles performance timeline== {{Performance key}} {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;font-size:97%" |- !Tournament!!2006!!2007!!2008!!2009!!2010!!2011!!2012!!2013!!2014!!{{Tooltip|W–L|Win–loss}} |- | align="left" |Australian Open | bgcolor="f0f8ff" |Q1 | bgcolor="afeeee" |2R | bgcolor="afeeee" |2R | bgcolor="f0f8ff" |Q3 |A |A | bgcolor="f0f8ff" |Q2 | bgcolor="afeeee" |1R |A |5–6 |- | align="left" |French Open | bgcolor="f0f8ff" |Q2 | bgcolor="afeeee" |2R | bgcolor="f0f8ff" |Q3 | bgcolor="f0f8ff" |Q1 |A |A | bgcolor="f0f8ff" |Q2 | bgcolor="afeeee" |1R |A |5–6 |- | align="left" |Wimbledon | bgcolor="f0f8ff" |Q3 | bgcolor="afeeee" |1R | bgcolor="f0f8ff" |Q3 | bgcolor="f0f8ff" |Q1 |A |A | bgcolor="f0f8ff" |Q1 | bgcolor="afeeee" |2R |A |5–6 |- | align="left" |US Open | bgcolor="afeeee" |1R | bgcolor="afeeee" |1R | bgcolor="f0f8ff" |Q1 |A |A |A | bgcolor="afeeee" |3R | bgcolor="afeeee" |1R |A |8–5 |-style=background:#efefef;font-weight:bold | style="text-align:left;" |Win–loss |0–1 |2–4 |1–1 |0–0 |0–0 |0–0 |2–1 |1–4 |0–0 |6–11 |}

==WTA Tour finals== ===Singles: 3 (runner-ups)=== {| class="wikitable sortable" !Legend |- |International (0–3) |} {|class="sortable wikitable" !Result !class="unsortable"|W–L !Date !Tournament !Tier !Surface !Opponent !class="unsortable"|Score |- | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss | 0–1 | Sep 2006 | Sunfeast Open, India |Tier III | Hard (i) | {{flagicon|SUI}} Martina Hingis | 0–6, 4–6 |- | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss | 0–2 | Nov 2006 | Bell Challenge, Canada |Tier III | Hard (i) | {{flagicon|FRA}} Marion Bartoli | 0–6, 0–6 |- | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss | 0–3 | Mar 2013 | Brasil Tennis Cup |International | Hard | {{flagicon|ROU}} Monica Niculescu | 2–6, 6–4, 4–6 |}

==ITF Circuit finals== {|class=wikitable style=font-size:85% !Legend |- style="background:;" |bgcolor=f88379|$100,000 tournaments |- style="background:;" |bgcolor=f7e98e|$75,000 tournaments |- style="background:;" |bgcolor=addfad|$50,000 tournaments |- style="background:;" |bgcolor=lightblue|$25,000 tournaments |- style="background:;" |bgcolor=f0f8ff|$10/15,000 tournaments |}

===Singles: 13 (7 titles, 6 runner-ups)=== {|class="sortable wikitable" !Result !class="unsortable"|W–L !Date !Tournament !Tier !Surface !Opponent !class="unsortable"|Score |- style="background:;" | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss | 0–1 | Jan 2003 |bgcolor=f0f8ff| ITF Miami, United States |bgcolor=f0f8ff| 10,000 | Hard | {{flagicon|LAT}} Anžela Žguna | 4–6, 2–6 |- | style="background:#98FB98;"|Win | 1–1 | Jul 2003 |bgcolor=f0f8ff| ITF Baltimore, U.S. |bgcolor=f0f8ff| 10,000 | Hard | {{flagicon|USA}} Jewel Peterson | 6–2, 6–4 |- | style="background:#98FB98;"|Win | 2–1 | Jul 2004 |bgcolor=lightblue| ITF College Park, U.S. |bgcolor=lightblue| 25,000 | Hard | {{flagicon|PAR}} Rossana de los Ríos | 7–5, 4–6, 6–2 |- | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss | 2–2 | Sep 2004 |bgcolor=lightblue| ITF Pelham, U.S. |bgcolor=lightblue| 25,000 | Clay | {{flagicon|SVK}} Zuzana Zemenová | 6–4, 4–6, 0–6 |- | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss | 2–3 | Aug 2005 |bgcolor=f7e98e| ITF Washington, U.S. |bgcolor=f7e98e| 75,000 | Hard | {{flagicon|USA}} Ashley Harkleroad | 2–6, 1–6 |- | style="background:#98FB98;"|Win | 3–3 | Mar 2006 |bgcolor=lightblue| ITF Hammond, U.S. |bgcolor=lightblue| 25,000 | Hard | {{flagicon|CZE}} Andrea Hlaváčková | 6–3, 6–4 |- | style="background:#98FB98;"|Win | 4–3 | Jul 2006 |bgcolor=lightblue| ITF Felixstowe, UK |bgcolor=lightblue| 25,000 | Grass | {{flagicon|AUS}} Trudi Musgrave | 6–2, 6–1 |- | style="background:#98FB98;"|Win | 5–3 | Aug 2006 |bgcolor=addfad| Bronx Open, U.S. |bgcolor=addfad| 50,000 | Hard | {{flagicon|BLR}} Tatiana Poutchek | 6–3, 6–1 |- | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss | 5–4 | Nov 2007 |bgcolor=f7e98e| ITF Pittsburgh, U.S. |bgcolor=f7e98e| 75,000 | Hard (i) | {{flagicon|USA}} Ashley Harkleroad | 6–4, 4–6, 3–6 |- | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss | 5–5 | Apr 2008 |bgcolor=addfad| ITF Charlottesville, U.S. |bgcolor=addfad| 50,000 | Clay | {{flagicon|USA}} Alexis King | 3–6, 3–6 |- | style="background:#98FB98;"|Win | 6–5 | Apr 2011 |bgcolor=lightblue| ITF Minsk, Belarus |bgcolor=lightblue| 25,000 | Hard (i) | {{flagicon|UKR}} Nadiia Kichenok | 6–2, 7–5 |- | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss | 6–6 | Sep 2011 |bgcolor=lightblue| ITF Redding, U.S. |bgcolor=lightblue| 25,000 | Hard | {{flagicon|USA}} Julia Boserup | 4–6, 6–2, 3–6 |- | style="background:#98FB98;"|Win | 7–6 | Apr 2012 |bgcolor=lightblue| ITF Namangan, Uzbekistan |bgcolor=lightblue| 25,000 | Hard | {{flagicon|CRO}} Donna Vekić | 3–6, 6–3, 6–2 |}

===Doubles: 3 (runner-ups)=== {|class="sortable wikitable" !Result !Date !Tournament !Tier !Surface !Partner !Opponents !class="unsortable"|Score |- style="background:;" | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss | Oct 2002 |bgcolor=f0f8ff| ITF Minsk, Belarus |bgcolor=f0f8ff| 10,000 | Carpet (i) | {{flagicon|BLR}} Tatsiana Uvarova | {{flagicon|RUS}} Daria Chemarda {{flagicon|RUS}} Vera Dushevina | 1–6, 4–6 |- | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss | Mar 2017 |bgcolor=f0f8ff| ITF Nanjing, China |bgcolor=f0f8ff| 15,000 | Hard | {{flagicon|RUS}} Angelina Gabueva | {{flagicon|CHN}} Sun Xuliu {{flagicon|CHN}} Sun Ziyue | 3–6, 1–6 |- | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss | Mar 2017 |bgcolor=f0f8ff| ITF Heraklion, Greece |bgcolor=f0f8ff| 15,000 | Hard | {{flagicon|RUS}} Angelina Gabueva | {{flagicon|CAN}} Charlotte Robillard-Millette {{flagicon|CAN}} Carol Zhao | 6–7(2), 6–4, [5–10] |}

==References== {{reflist|2}}

==External links== * {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119053434/http://www.olgapuchkova.com/ |date=19 January 2013 |title=Official website}} * {{WTA}} * {{ITF}} * {{ESPN Tennis}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puchkova, Olga}} Category:1987 births Category:Living people Category:Belarusian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Category:Belarusian female tennis players Category:Belarusian people of Russian descent Category:Sportspeople from Miami-Dade County, Florida Category:Russian expatriates in the United States Category:Russian female models Category:Russian female tennis players Category:Russian people of Belarusian descent Category:Tennis players from Moscow Category:People from Miami Shores, Florida Category:21st-century Russian sportswomen