1999 - Played first event of career on ITF Circuit.
2000 - Played first Tour main draw at Moscow, reaching 2r (as WC, d. Bovina in 1r; l. to Kournikova); won one singles title on ITF Circuit.
2001 - Fell in Tour qualifying twice; continued to play on ITF Circuit.
2002 - First Top 100 season; runner-up once, at Palermo (l. to Diaz-Oliva); SF twice, at Warsaw (l. to Nagyova) and Sopot (l. to Safina); QF at Bol; burst into prominence at
Roland Garros, reaching 4r in Grand Slam main draw debut (as qualifier, l. to S.Williams in 3s); made Top 100 debut on June 10 (after
Roland Garros; rose from No.142 to No.90) and Top 50 debut on September 9 (after
US Open; rose from No.57 to No.49); won one singles title on ITF Circuit.
2003 - First Top 20 season; won first Tour singles title at Bol (d. Martínez Granados in final); SF three times, at Strasbourg, Vienna (l. to Sprem at both) and Linz (l. to Sugiyama); QF nine times, incl. first Grand Slam QF at
Roland Garros (d. V.Williams en route; l. to Petrova); also reached 4r at
Wimbledon (l. to V.Williams); made Top 20 debut on June 9 (after
Roland Garros; rose from No.21 to No.20).
2004 - Second Top 20 season; won second Tour singles title at Memphis (d. Raymond 46 64 75 in final; trailed 5-2 in third set and 3mp); runner-up twice, at Cincinnati (l. to Davenport) and Philadelphia (l. to Mauresmo); SF six times, at Warsaw (l. to V.Williams), Rome (l. to Mauresmo), Eastbourne (l. to Kuznetsova), San Diego (l. to Myskina 62 67(4) 76(15); led 5-2 third set w/9mp; was longest singles third set tie-break in Tour history), Montréal (l. to Mauresmo) and Beijing (l. to S.Williams); QF five times; also 4r at
Australian Open,
Wimbledon (l. to Davenport at both) and
US Open (l. to Dementieva); made Top 10 debut on August 9 (after Montréal; rose from No.14 to No.9 - would spend two weeks at No.9 and three at No.10 before dipping outside for rest of season); qualified for first Tour Championships, falling in RR stage (went 0-3 in RR); won one Tour doubles title; won first Grand Slam mixed doubles title at
US Open (w/B.Bryan).
2005 - Reasonable start to season but second half marred by injury; won third Tour singles title at Memphis (d. Shaughnessy in final); SF at Rome (l. to Mauresmo); QF twice; fell early at first three Grand Slams; withdrew from Los Angeles, Toronto,
US Open (first major missed in career) and Beijing w/left ankle sprain; returned in October for six events to close season, reaching QF once at Tokyo [Japan Open] (l. to Mirza); began season at No.11 but dropped to No.42 by year's end; won one Tour doubles title.
2006 - First of two back-to-back near-Top 20 seasons; won fourth and fifth Tour singles titles at Birmingham (d. Jackson in final) and Cincinnati (d. Srebotnik in final); runner-up once, at Auckland (l. to Bartoli in final); SF once, at Hasselt (l. to Clijsters); QF four times; best Grand Slam was 3r at
US Open (l. to Dementieva); went from No.42 to No.24 year-end; won two Tour doubles titles, incl.
US Open (w/Dechy); also won second Grand Slam mixed doubles title at
Wimbledon (w/Ram).
2007 - Second straight near-Top 20 season; impressive showings in five of first eight events, finishing runner-up at Auckland (l. to Jankovic in final) then reaching 4r at
Australian Open (l. to Sharapova), QF at Indian Wells (d. Sharapova in 4r for first win over a reigning world No.1; l. to Li), 4r at Miami (l. to Henin) and SF at Charleston (ret. vs. Safina w/left wrist injury); left wrist injury suffered at Charleston caused withdrawal from all events between April and August (incl.
Roland Garros and
Wimbledon); fell out of Top 20 and as low as No.30 in that four-month lay-off; returned at
US Open, reaching 3r (l. to S.Williams) and reached QF or better at four of five events to finish off season, with QF at Portoroz, SF at Luxembourg, QF at Moscow and SF at Québec City; only pre-QF loss in fall was 2r at Zürich (l. to Henin).
2008 - First Top 10 season; won sixth and seventh Tour singles titles at Prague (d. Azarenka in final) and Guangzhou (d. Peng in final); runner-up six times, at Hobart (withdrew prior to final vs. Daniilidou w/left ankle injury), Doha (l. to Sharapova in final), Charleston (l. to S.Williams in final), Moscow (l. to Jankovic in final), Linz (l. to Ivanovic in final) and most notably second Tour Championships (went 3-0 in RR stage to qualify for SF; d. Dementieva in SF before falling to V.Williams in final); eight Tour singles finals was most by any player in season; SF three times, at Miami (l. to Jankovic), Olympics (l. to Dementieva; d. Li in bronze medal match for first Olympic medal) and Beijing (l. to Jankovic); QF four times, at Auckland (l. to Erakovic 63 26 76(5); led 4-2 third set), Bangalore (l. to V.Williams), Indian Wells (l. to Ivanovic) and Stuttgart (l. to Jankovic); had 10 pre-QF exits in 25 events, incl. all four Grand Slams, at
Australian Open (ret. vs. Sugiyama in 1r w/left ankle sprain from Hobart),
Roland Garros (l. to Dementieva in 4r),
Wimbledon (l. to Tanasugarn in 2r) and
US Open (l. to Perebiynis in 2r); had equal-most match wins on season (65; also Jankovic); having spent 11 weeks inside Top 10 previously, made Top 10 return on August 18 (after Olympics; rose from No.11 to previous career-high of No.9), peaking at No.7 on November 10 year-end rankings; member of Russian Fed Cup team that d. USA 3-2 in SF (went 1-0) and d. Spain 4-0 in final (went 1-0; was second personal Fed Cup title - also 2004); withdrew from Paris [Indoors] and Antwerp w/left ankle injury, from Amelia Island w/left thigh strain and from Birmingham w/illness, also ret. in Zürich 2r w/dizziness.
2009 - Second straight Top 10 season (finishing at No.9); made phenomenal 20-3 start, a stretch highlighted by eighth and ninth Tour singles titles at Pattaya City (as top seed, d. Mirza in final) and Indian Wells (as No.4 seed, d. No.5 seed Ivanovic in final), reaching first Grand Slam SF at
Australian Open (as No.7 seed, l. to No.3 seed Safina), QF at Dubai (as No.5 seed, l. to Razzano) and back-to-back 3r runs at Miami (as No.6 seed, l. to Li in 3s) and Charleston (as No.3 seed, ret. vs. No.13 seed Razzano w/right ankle injury); made Top 5 debut on February 2 (after
Australian Open; rose from No.7 to No.5); also won fifth Tour doubles title at Indian Wells (w/Azarenka; was first singles-doubles sweep of Tour career); right ankle injury from Charleston caused withdrawal from entire European clay court season (Stuttgart, Rome, Madrid,
Roland Garros); returned during grass court season but did not make it beyond QF rest of season, best results being two QF, at Los Angeles (as No.2 seed, l. to No.10 seed and eventual champion Pennetta) and Beijing (as No.7 seed, l. to No.14 seed Bartoli 36 75 62; led 63 51); had eight pre-QF exits in 10 events played after returning from injury: 4r once, at
US Open (as No.7 seed, l. to No.10 seed Pennetta 36 76(6) 60; held 6mp - 4mp at 63 65, 2mp at 6-4 in second set tie-break); 3r three times, at
Wimbledon (as No.7 seed, withdrew prior to match vs. No.26 seed Razzano w/right ankle injury), Cincinnati (as No.7 seed, l. to Hantuchova 76 third set) and Toronto (as No.7 seed, l. to Sharapova); 2r twice, at Tokyo (as No.6 seed w/1r bye, l. to Kleybanova in 3s) and Moscow (as top seed, l. to qualifier Pironkova); and 1r twice, at Eastbourne (as No.4 seed, l. to Mauresmo in 3s) and Istanbul (as top seed, l. to Koryttseva in 3s); was first alternate at Tour Championships (l. to No.4 seed Wozniacki in 3s; withdrew prior to second match w/right ankle injury); also withdrew from Sydney w/illness; on November 11, underwent minor arthroscopic surgery on right ankle to remove scar tissue (expected to return to courts after four to five weeks).
