Julia Sergeyevna Apostoli (née Salnikova; Russian: Юлия Сергеевна Апостоли, Greek: Τζούλια Σεργκέιεβνα Αποστόλη; born 13 August 1964) is a Russian-born Greek former professional tennis player who represented the Soviet Union and (from 1990 onwards) Greece.
| Full name | Julia Sergeyevna Apostoli (née Salnikova) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native name | Юлия Сергеевна Апостоли (Сальникова) | |||||||||||
| Country (sports) |  Soviet Union Greece | |||||||||||
| Born | 13 August 1964 Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR | |||||||||||
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand)[1] | |||||||||||
| Prize money | $38,157 | |||||||||||
| Singles | ||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 194 (15 October 1990) | |||||||||||
| Doubles | ||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 130 (13 April 1992) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||
Early life edit
Apostoli was born in Moscow, the daughter of Russian football player and manager Sergei Salnikov, who was half Greek and half Russian.[2] Her father was a member of the Soviet association football national team which won the gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics, and at club level both played and managed FC Spartak Moscow.[3] Her father died when she was 18 years old. She has a twin sister.[4]
She originally was supposed to be a diver, having taken lessons at Dynamo Moscow, but later switched sports to tennis.[4]
Career edit
She debuted for the Soviet Union Fed Cup team in the 1980 quarterfinal loss to the United States, featuring in the doubles with Olga Zaitseva, a dead rubber which they lost to the Americans. Over the next two years she competed in all ties for the Soviet Union. In 1981 she played the opening rubber in each tie and won them all, over Denmark's Tine Scheuer-Larsen, Czechoslovakia's Renáta Tomanová and Britain's Virginia Wade, the latter in the Soviet Union's quarter-final loss. She extended her singles record to five wins from five matches in 1982 when she beat her Spanish and Peruvian opponents, also appearing in a live doubles rubber to win the second round tie against Peru.[5] In the 1982 quarter-final she suffered her only singles loss, to Dianne Fromholtz, as the Soviet Union went down to Australia.[6]
At the Friendship Games in 1984, Apostoli won a gold medal in women's doubles, as well as a bronze in the singles.
She rarely featured in international tennis for the remainder of the 1980s in order to concentrate on her studies, graduating with a journalism degree from Moscow State University in 1990.[7]
Apostoli returned to tennis in 1990 under the flag of Greece, having taken up citizenship through her marriage to Greek tennis coach Apostolos Tsitsipas. She played on the WTA Tour until 1992.[7]
Personal life edit
Her eldest son, Stefanos Tsitsipas, competes on the professional ATP tour.[8] Apostoli has four children with her husband, and all of them are tennis players. She lives in Monaco when not traveling.[9] She is also officially listed as a coach of her younger son Petros Tsitsipas on his ATP profile.
ITF finals edit
Singles: 4 (3–1) edit
| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1. | 12 March 1990 | Reims, France | Clay |  Marie-Pierre Villani
|
7–5, 4–6, 6–0 |
| Loss | 2. | 14 May 1990 | Marsa, Malta | Clay |  Nadin Ercegović
|
3–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 3. | 6 August 1990 | Paderborn, West Germany | Clay |  Heike Thoms
|
6–1, 6–0 |
| Win | 4. | 4 April 1994 | Athens, Greece | Clay |  Irina Zvereva
|
6–0, 6–3 |
Doubles: 4 (1–3) edit
| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1. | 21 August 1989 | Neumünster, West Germany | Clay | Agnese Blumberga
|
 Catarina Bernstein Annika Narbe
|
6–1, 6–2 |
| Loss | 2. | 12 March 1990 | Reims, France | Clay |  Kaye Hand
|
 Leona Lásková Michaela Peterová
|
2–6, 6–3, 3–6 |
| Loss | 3. | 6 August 1990 | Paderborn, West Germany | Clay | Anna Mirza
|
Heike Thoms Tanja Hauschildt
|
3–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 4. | 8 May 1995 | Le Touquet, France | Clay | Sylvie Sabas
|
Amélie Mauresmo Amanda Wainwright
|
4–6, 2–6 |
Other finals edit
Singles (0-1) edit
| Result | No. | Year | Tournament | Location | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1. | 1985 | USSR Tennis National Championship | Tbilisi, Georgian SSR | Svetlana Parkhomenko
|
7–6, 4–6, 2–6 |
Doubles (0-2) edit
| Result | No. | Year | Tournament | Location | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1. | 1983 | USSR Tennis National Championship | Jūrmala, Latvian SSR | Natasha Reva
|
Svetlana Parkhomenko Larisa Savchenko
|
2–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 2. | 1984 | USSR Tennis National Championship | Tashkent, Uzbek SSR | Elena Eliseenko
|
Svetlana Parkhomenko Larisa Savchenko
|
1–6, 2–6 |
Mixed (2-1) edit
| Result | No. | Year | Tournament | Location | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1. | 1982 | USSR Tennis National Championship | Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR | Aleksandr Bogomolov
|
Natasha Chmyreva Sergey Leonyuk
|
0–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 2. | 1984 | USSR Tennis National Championship | Tashkent, Uzbek SSR | Ģirts Dzelde
|
Larisa Savchenko Alvis Zilgalvis
|
7–5, 6–2 |
| Win | 3. | 1985 | USSR Tennis National Championship | Tbilisi, Georgian SSR | Ģirts Dzelde
|
Elena Eliseenko Sergey Leonyuk
|
7–6, 7–5 |
References edit
- ^ "Слагаемые успеха / Быть мамой Андрея Рублева" [Components of success / Being the mother of Andrey Rublev]. fismag.ru (in Russian). FIS (Fizkultura i sport). 20 June 2018. Archived from the original on 1 February 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
- ^ Salnikova, Julia (February 26, 2019). "Stefanos grandfather #SergeiSalnikov". Instagram. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021.
- ^ "Greece's tennis ace Stefanos Tsitsipas aims high". AGONAsport.com. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
- ^ a b Stefanos Tsitsipas interviews his mom for Mother's Day 🥰. Tennis Channel. 12 May 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Untitled". United Press International. 22 July 1982. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
- ^ "Germans exploit Turnbull loss". The Age. 26 July 1982. p. 25. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
- ^ a b "Julia Salnikova: "Vi presento Tsitsipas e non solo.."". Spazio Tennis. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
- ^ "Stefanos Tsitsipas a tout pour plaire au Moselle Open". Le Republicain Lorrain (in French). 19 September 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
- ^ "Words of Wisdom in Monaco with Yulia Salnikova". hellomonaco,com. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
