Yulia Putintseva

For many years, former Eastern-bloc sports stars have been quite hard to come across. As many nations splintered from the former Soviet Union and beyond, once-vast sporting nations became smaller and thus found it hard to make an imprint on the sporting world. One such nation that does not suffer from such problems, however, is Kazakhstan. Improving all the time on the sporting front, they have a crop of young and impressive tennis players on their way at the moment – one name that stands out in particular is Yulia Putintseva.

At just 22, the young Kazakh has plenty to give to the sport. Born in Moscow, Russia, she represents Kazakhstan and plays with a quality right-handed style. Already ranked 31 in the Singles Rankings, the youngster has much ahead of her in a career that already promises so much.

Raised by Anton and Anna, she was introduced to the world of sport by her father, a real lover of sports. Her brother, Ilya, plays ice hockey as well. A sport-mad family, Yulia was soon involved in playing tennis for the Spartak Club in Moscow. With impressive early results and a clear future in the game, she moved to Paris and attended the famous Mouratoglou Academy. Ever since she won a major under-14s event, she has maintained her position as one of their star pupils.

In terms of play-style, Putintseva is known for having an aggressive forehand shot and by being an extremely capable baseliner player. Playing at her best on clay surfaces most of the time, too, many observers of grass-based tournaments alone might be missing out on one of the most impressive young stars in the sport.

A self-confessed lover of both the US and Australian Open tournaments, it would be no surprise to one day see this young prodigy lift either – or both – above her head. Growing up, and even today, she idolized the likes of Justine Henin and Martina Hingis. When she isn’t on the court claiming impressive victories, she’s playing cards, taming her mind with games of chess, or playing Sudoku.

A finalist in the 2017 St. Petersburg tournament, this year looks like it could already become an important part of her career development. With several ITF Circuit titles already under her belt, she’s already cracked the Top 100 and could see 2017 as the year she finally makes a major mark on one of the Grand Slam tournaments.