Country (sports) United States Role Tennis Player Name Viktoria Belinsky | Highest ranking No. 145 Highest ranking No. 168 Turned pro 1983 | |
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Residence New York and Miami, United States Born 20 April 1967 (age 56)
Moscow, Soviet Union ( 1967-04-20 ) Plays Right-handed with two-handed backhand | ||
Viktoria Milvidskaia Belinsky (born Milvidskaia, 20 April 1967) is a former professional tennis player from Russia. Her highest singles ranking was #168; doubles ranking #145.
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Early life
Belinsky began playing tennis at the age of seven in Moscow. She played for the famous Spartak tennis club and her coaches were Alexandra Granaturova and Larisa Preobrazhenskaya.
In 1983 she won the Moscow First International Tournament in Moscow which earned her the honour of Master of Sport of the USSR, International Class (equates to international champion). This was the start of her professional tennis career.
Professional career
She was a member of the USSR national tennis team (1983–1989) and represented the USSR in many different tournaments around the world. In 1984, she became the youngest USSR national champion. From 1984 to 1992, she was one of the top ten tennis players in the country.
Belinsky played in all Grand Slam tournaments. She had career wins over: Manon Bollegraf, Tami Whitlinger, Sandra Wasserman, Nicole Arendt, Inés Gorrochategui, Lubomira Bacheva, Regina Maršíková, Andrea Strnadová, Sabine Hack, and Radka Bobková. She stopped playing in 1993 due to a knee injury. That same year, she moved to the United States.
Belinsky has an M.A. in physical education from the State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports in Moscow. She received this degree May 1989.
From 2005 to 2008, Belinsky worked at the Russian NTV PLUS Tennis Channel. Her program was called, Tennis coach – is it nature or nurtured?. She interviewed many famous tennis coaches including: Wayne Bryan, Nick Bollettieri, Bud Collins, Robert Lansdorp, Carlos Rodriguez, Richard Williams. In addition, she has interviewed famous tennis players such as Serena Williams, Andy Roddick, Anna Kournikova, Marat Safin and Janko Tipsarević. She worked as a sports broadcaster at the Olympic Games in Beijing (2008), and as a tennis analyst at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the Davis Cup, and the Federation Cup.
In 2014, Belinsky worked as a coach for the USTA Player Development program in New York City, NY.
In 2015, she moved to Florida and began working as a private coach with professional junior tennis players.