Julia Apostoli

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.

Julia Apostoli
Full nameJulia Sergeyevna Apostoli
(born Salnikova)
Country (sports) Soviet Union
 Greece
Born (1964-08-13) 13 August 1964
Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)[1]
Prize money$38,157
Singles
Highest rankingNo. 194 (15 October 1990)
Doubles
Highest rankingNo. 130 (13 April 1992)
Medal record
Representing  Soviet Union
Friendship Games
Gold medal – first place1984Women's doubles

Biography

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]

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.[4] In the 1982 quarter-final she suffered her only singles loss, to Dianne Fromholtz, as the Soviet Union went down to Australia.[5]

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.[6]

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.[6]

Her eldest son, Stefanos Tsitsipas, competes on the professional ATP tour.[7]

Apostoli has four children with her husband, and all of them are tennis players. She lives in Monaco when not traveling.[8] She is also officially listed as a coach of her younger son Petros Tsitsipas on his ATP profile.

ITF finals

Singles: 4 (3–1)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1. 12 March 1990 Reims, France Clay France Marie-Pierre Villani 7–5, 4–6, 6–0
Loss 2. 14 May 1990 Marsa, Malta Clay Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Nadin Ercegović 3–6, 2–6
Win 3. 6 August 1990 Paderborn, West Germany Clay West Germany Heike Thoms 6–1, 6–0
Win 4. 4 April 1994 Athens, Greece Clay Russia Irina Zvereva 6–0, 6–3

Doubles: 4 (1–3)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. 21 August 1989 Neumünster, West Germany Clay Soviet Union Agnese Blumberga Sweden Catarina Bernstein
Sweden Annika Narbe		 6–1, 6–2
Loss 2. 12 March 1990 Reims, France Clay United Kingdom Kaye Hand Czechoslovakia Leona Lásková
Czechoslovakia Michaela Peterová		 2–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss 3. 6 August 1990 Paderborn, West Germany Clay Soviet Union Anna Mirza West Germany Heike Thoms
West Germany Tanja Hauschildt		 3–6, 1–6
Loss 4. 8 May 1995 Le Touquet, France Clay France Sylvie Sabas France Amélie Mauresmo
United Kingdom Amanda Wainwright		 4–6, 2–6

Other finals

Singles (0-1)
Result No. Year Tournament Location Opponent Score
Loss 1. 1985 USSR Tennis National Championship Tbilisi, Georgian SSR Soviet Union Svetlana Parkhomenko 7–6, 4–6, 2–6

Doubles (0-2)
Result No. Year Tournament Location Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. 1983 USSR Tennis National Championship Jūrmala, Latvian SSR Soviet Union Natasha Reva Soviet Union Svetlana Parkhomenko
Soviet Union Larisa Savchenko		 2–6, 0–6
Loss 2. 1984 USSR Tennis National Championship Tashkent, Uzbek SSR Soviet Union Elena Eliseenko Soviet Union Svetlana Parkhomenko
Soviet Union Larisa Savchenko		 1–6, 2–6

Mixed (2-1)
Result No. Year Tournament Location Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. 1982 USSR Tennis National Championship Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR Soviet Union Aleksandr Bogomolov Soviet Union Natasha Chmyreva
Soviet Union Sergey Leonyuk		 0–6, 5–7
Win 2. 1984 USSR Tennis National Championship Tashkent, Uzbek SSR Soviet Union Ģirts Dzelde Soviet Union Larisa Savchenko
Soviet Union Alvis Zilgalvis		 7–5, 6–2
Win 3. 1985 USSR Tennis National Championship Tbilisi, Georgian SSR Soviet Union Ģirts Dzelde Soviet Union Elena Eliseenko
Soviet Union Sergey Leonyuk		 7–6, 7–5

References
  1. "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.
  2. Salnikova, Julia (February 26, 2019). "Stefanos grandfather #SergeiSalnikov". Instagram. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021.
  3. "Greece's tennis ace Stefanos Tsitsipas aims high". AGONAsport.com. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  4. "Untitled". United Press International. 22 July 1982. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  5. "Germans exploit Turnbull loss". The Age. 26 July 1982. p. 25. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  6. "Julia Salnikova: "Vi presento Tsitsipas e non solo.."". Spazio Tennis. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  7. "Stefanos Tsitsipas a tout pour plaire au Moselle Open". Le Republicain Lorrain (in French). 19 September 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  8. "Words of Wisdom in Monaco with Yulia Salnikova". hellomonaco,com. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
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