Kirilenko Is About To Reach Top 10

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 14th March 2013

Kirilenko Is About To Reach Top 10

epa03618509 Maria Kirilenko of Russia returns a shot to Mallory Burdette of USA during their match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, USA, 10 March 2013. EPA/PAUL BUCK |

Maria Kirilenko gave up playing doubles at the end of January because her knee was becoming sore and she was finding it hard to recover from two different competitions and be fresh for singles. At the age of 26, she is making a big push to finally make into the top 10.

She understood at an early age that she wasn’t tall and what kind of game would make her successful.

“I couldn’t hit a big ball every time and don’t have a lot of power,” she said. “I’m fast, I can play counterattack and hit the ball on the rise and I try to change the rhythm. That’s my game.”

Kirilenko is currently ranked No. 15 and after upsetting No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 6 Petra Kvitova to reach the quarterfinals of Indian Wells, she’s feeling pretty good about her form.

“I have two wins over top 10 players, and now I feel that I can be on this level,” she said. “Yeah, like nothing is scary out there. So I can compete, and as you can see, I can beat them.”

A creative player who is quick, has a fine volley and deceptively powerful strokes off the ground, Kirilenko grew up playing juniors with fellow Russian Maria Sharapova, who became her close friend. Sharapova has gone on to win four Grand Slam titles, but the smaller Kirilenko has yet to reach a Grand Slam semifinal.

“I think everybody has own time,” she said. “Somebody can be there like in young age; somebody needs more time. So I just feel now that I start to play better. I always play not bad, I can say, but the right moment and the good moment for me I think is right now.”

Now 26, the soft-spoken Russian has graced the pages of more than a few lifestyle magazines. Maybe not as many as Sharapova has, but she is known as one of the tour’s most beautiful women and is sponsored by Stella McCartney. She and Sharapova still like each other, but the higher ranked Russian has lived in Los Angeles for years and Kirilenko spends most of her off time in Moscow.

“Well, when we were young we were close friends, closer friends than now, because we have a little bit different ways,” Kirilenko said. She lives here; I live in Russia. So we don’t have really [the same] interests now.”

Kirilenko is engaged to hockey star Alex Ovechkin, who plays for the Washington Capitals, so she is spending a bit more time in America these days, She’s become quite a hockey fan, sometimes live tweeting during his games.

“Sometimes I go out there and I watch live. Sometimes I’m so nervous,” she said. “I want him like and the team to win so much. Some days I’m really calm and I’m sure they’re gonna win. Every day is different. Sometimes you can see I’m tweeting like a lot, and it’s helpful, actually. It’s helpful for them,” she added with a laugh.

Kirilenko has said that it is she who is directing her relationship with Ovechkin. He follows her career pretty closely too, but keeps his advice simple.

“[He says] just go there and beat them,” she said.