Maria Kirilenko started showing a passion towards tennis at age 5, but it was difficult to get the practice in while she was attending school. Her father enrolled her in a tennis school, and hours of fierce training started to pay off as she won several tournaments.

When Kirilenko was twelve years old, an Honored Master of sports, Elena Brioukhovets, saw her while training. All the next year Read more...

At the Australian Open, Kirilenko reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career, by beating No. 6 seed Anna Chakvetadze in three sets (6–7, 6–1, 6–2). Her next opponent was Daniela Hantuchova, to whom she lost in the fourth round 1–6, 6–4, 6–4, after leading 6–1, 3–1.

Maria then reached the second Read more...

Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko (Russian: Мари́я Ю́рьевна Кириле́нко; born January 25, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player. Born in Moscow, she won her first WTA Tour title in 2005, defeating Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6–3, 6–4 in the China Open. Kirilenko reached #18, her career-high singles ranking, on the WTA Read more...