Julia Salnikova

Julia Sergeyevna Salnikova (Russian: Юлия Сергеевна Сальникова, Greek: Ιουλία (Τζούλια) Σάλνικοβα; born 13 August 1964), also known as Julia Apostoli, is a Russian-born Greek former professional tennis player who represented the Soviet Union and (from 1990 onwards) Greece.

Early life Salnikova was born in Moscow, the daughter of Russian football player and manager Sergei Salnikov, who was half Greek and half Russian. 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. Her father died when she was 18 years old. She has a twin sister.

She originally was supposed to be a diver, having taken lessons at Dynamo Moscow, but later switched sports to tennis. In the 1982 quarter-final she suffered her only singles loss, to Dianne Fromholtz, as the Soviet Union went down to Australia.

At the Friendship Games in 1984, Salnikova 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.

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

ITF finals

Singles: 4 (3–1) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1. 12 March 1990 Reims, France Clay Marie-Pierre Villani 7–5, 4–6, 6–0Loss 2. 14 May 1990 Marsa, Malta Clay Nadin Ercegović 3–6, 2–6Win 3. 6 August 1990 Paderborn, West Germany Clay Heike Thoms 6–1, 6–0Win 4. 4 April 1994 Athens, Greece Clay Irina Zvereva 6–0, 6–3

Doubles: 4 (1–3) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1. 21 August 1989 Neumünster, West Germany Clay Agnese Blumberga Catarina Bernstein Annika Narbe 6–1, 6–2Loss 2. 12 March 1990 Reims, France Clay Kaye Hand Leona Lásková Michaela Peterová 2–6, 6–3, 3–6Loss 3. 6 August 1990 Paderborn, West Germany Clay Anna Mirza Heike Thoms Tanja Hauschildt 3–6, 1–6Loss 4. 8 May 1995 Le Touquet, France Clay Sylvie Sabas Amélie Mauresmo Amanda Wainwright 4–6, 2–6

Other finals Singles (0-1) ResultNo.YearTournamentLocationOpponentScoreLoss 1. 1985 USSR Tennis National Championship Tbilisi, Georgian SSR Svetlana Parkhomenko 7–6, 4–6, 2–6

Doubles (0-2) ResultNo.YearTournamentLocationPartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1. 1983 USSR Tennis National Championship Jūrmala, Latvian SSR Natasha Reva Svetlana Parkhomenko Larisa Savchenko 2–6, 0–6Loss 2. 1984 USSR Tennis National Championship Tashkent, Uzbek SSR Elena Eliseenko Svetlana Parkhomenko Larisa Savchenko 1–6, 2–6

Mixed (2-1) ResultNo.YearTournamentLocationPartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1. 1982 USSR Tennis National Championship Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR Aleksandr Bogomolov Natasha Chmyreva Sergey Leonyuk 0–6, 5–7Win 2. 1984 USSR Tennis National Championship Tashkent, Uzbek SSR Ģirts Dzelde Larisa Savchenko Alvis Zilgalvis 7–5, 6–2Win 3. 1985 USSR Tennis National Championship Tbilisi, Georgian SSR Ģirts Dzelde Elena Eliseenko Sergey Leonyuk 7–6, 7–5