Kateryna Volodko
Kateryna Volodymyrivna Volodko is a tennis player from Ukraine. Her career-high rankings are world No. 29 in singles and No. 9 in doubles. She was the doubles champion at the 2008 Australian Open, partnering her sister Alona Bondarenko.
Her best Grand Slam performance in singles was reaching the quarterfinals at the 2009 US Open.
Over her career, Bondarenko has defeated top ten players Elena Dementieva, Sara Errani, Ana Ivanovic, Garbiñe Muguruza, Li Na, Agnieszka Radwańska, Roberta Vinci, and Venus Williams.
Personal life
Kateryna is the younger sister of professional tennis players Valeria Bondarenko and Alona Bondarenko.Bondarenko was born on 8 August 1986 in Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian SSR to father, Vladimir, and mother, Natalia. She was introduced to tennis at age four by her parents. She has two sisters, Valeria and Alona, both used to play on the WTA Tour. Her favourite surface is hardcourt. In September 2011, Bondarenko married Denis Volodko. Their first child, Karin, was born in 2013. Bondarenko gave birth to her second child in 2019. In 2022, she changed her name to Kateryna Volodko.
Tennis career
2008: First WTA Tour title
Bondarenko began season at the Hobart International where she lost in the first round to world No. 144, Anna Lapushchenkova. At the Australian Open, she lost in the first round to world No. 69, Aravane Rezaï. However, on 24 January 2008, paired with her sister Alona, she won the doubles tournament at the Australian Open without seeding, defeating in the final the No. 12-seeded pair Victoria Azarenka/Shahar Pe'er, in three sets.After that, she played for Ukraine in the tie against Belgium in the 2008 Fed Cup World Group II. She lost her first match to Yanina Wickmayer and won her last match defeating Tamaryn Hendler. Ukraine defeated Belgium 3–2. At the Paris Indoor, she upset fifth seed and defending champion, Nadia Petrova, in the first round, in three sets, and she defeated qualifier and compatriot Yuliana Fedak. In the quarterfinals, she lost to fourth seed Elena Dementieva in straight sets. In doubles, she partnered with her sister Alona, and they won the tournament defeating Czech pair Vladimíra Uhlířová/Eva Hrdinová in the final. Bondarenko then played at the Diamond Games in Antwerp, where she beat qualifier and compatriot Tatiana Perebiynis and young Russian Alisa Kleybanova. During the match, she suffered a left hip strain. In doubles, partnering up with her sister Alona, they lost in the semifinals to second seeds Květa Peschke/Ai Sugiyama. Kateryna's injury prevented her from playing at the Qatar Open.
Bondarenko returned at the Indian Wells Open. Seeded No. 30 and getting a first-round bye, she was upset in the second round by world No. 216, Jie Zheng. At the Miami Open, she defeated Pauline Parmentier, in the second round, she lost to tenth seed Elena Dementieva. Playing for Ukraine again at the 2008 Fed Cup World Group play-offs, Ukraine faced Italy. Bondarenko played one rubber, but she lost to Sara Errani. In the end, Italy defeated Ukraine 3–2.
She began clay-court season at the German Open in Berlin where she beat world No. 45, Tamira Paszek. but lost in the second round to seventh seed and eventual finalist Dementieva. At the Italian Open, Bondarenko defeated world No. 53, Tathiana Garbin. Then, she lost to sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze. Playing at Strasbourg, she lost in the first round to world No. 93, Petra Kvitová. At the French Open, Bondarenko lost in the first round to 13th seed and eventual finalist Dinara Safina. However, in doubles, she and Alona reached the semifinals where they lost to Casey Dellacqua/Francesca Schiavone.
Bondarenko began grass-court season at the Birmingham Classic. Seeded 12th, she stunned world No. 92, Anne Keothavong, in the first and qualifier Samantha Stosur, in the second round. In the third round, she beat lucky loser Melinda Czink, in three sets. In her second quarterfinal of the year she beat world No. 52, Petra Cetkovská, to reach her first WTA Tour semifinal where she defeated world No. 64, Marina Erakovic, to reach her first WTA singles final. In the final, Bondarenko defeated world No. 85, Yanina Wickmayer, to win her only WTA singles title. The week after, she played at the Rosmalen Open where she lost in the first round to qualifier and eventual champion, Tamarine Tanasugarn. At Wimbledon, Bondarenko defeated qualifier Rika Fujiwara. In the second round, she lost to fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, in straight sets.
Bondarenko began the US Open Series at the Stanford Classic where she beat world No. 72, Ashley Harkleroad, but lost in the second round to world No. 32, Dominika Cibulková. At the LA Championships, she lost in the first round to world No. 122, Meng Yuan, in three sets. Seeded seventh at the Nordic Light Open, she lost in the first round to world No. 77, Camille Pin. Bondarenko represented Ukraine at the Beijing Olympics. She lost in the first round to fifth seed and eventual gold medalist Elena Dementieva. This was the fourth time that year that Bondarenko has lost to Dementieva. In doubles, she and Alona reached the semifinals where they lost to second seeds Serena Williams/Venus Williams, in three sets. In the bronze medal match, they lost to Chinese pair Yan Zi/Zheng Jie, and ended in fourth place. Bondarenko lost in the first round at the US Open to fourth seed and eventual champion Serena Williams. In doubles, she and Alona lost in the third round to tenth seeds and eventual finalists Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur.
Bondarenko qualified for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix defeating Lucie Hradecká in the final round of qualifying. She beat world No. 15, Flavia Pennetta, in the second round, she lost to sixth seed Venus Williams. At the Kremlin Cup, Bondarenko lost in the first round of qualifying to Aravane Rezaï. At the Zurich Open, she lost in the final round of qualifying to Monica Niculescu. Playing her final tournament of the year, the Ladies Linz, she lost in the first round to fifth seed Nadia Petrova in three sets.
Bondarenko ended the year ranked No. 63 in singles and No. 10 in doubles.
2009: US Open quarterfinal
Bondarenko began her season at the Brisbane International. She lost in the first round to second seed and eventual champion Victoria Azarenka. Next, she played at the Hobart International. She lost in the first round to world No. 57, Magdaléna Rybáriková. In doubles, Bondarenko partnered with her sister Alona. They reached the final which they lost to Gisela Dulko/Flavia Pennetta, in two sets. At the Australian Open, Bondarenko upset ninth seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the first round. In the second round, she beat world No. 90, Lourdes Domínguez Lino. In the third round, she lost to 22nd seed Zheng Jie, in straight sets.2012: Retirement from tennis
Bondarenko started off her 2012 season by playing doubles at Hobart. Partnering with Anastasia Rodionova, she defeated Shuko Aoyama/Irina Falconi in the first round. In the quarterfinals, they upset top seeds Lucie Hradecká/Anabel Medina Garrigues. In the semifinals, they lost to third seeds Chuang Chia-jung/Marina Erakovic in the super tie-breaker. Bondarenko next participated at the Australian Open. In the first round, she lost to world No. 66, Vania King.She played for Ukraine in the Fed Cup tie against Italy. She lost both of her matches to Sara Errani and Francesca Schiavone. Italy defeated Ukraine 3–2. Seeded sixth for qualifying at the Qatar Ladies Open, she qualified beating Alizé Lim and 13th seed Casey Dellacqua, in straight sets, respectively. In the first round, she beat fellow qualifier Vera Dushevina, before she went over world No. 23, Flavia Pennetta. In the third round, Bondarenko lost to world No. 31, Monica Niculescu. Playing qualifying at Dubai, she was beaten in the second round of qualifying by Aleksandra Wozniak. Seeded second for qualifying at Indian Wells, Bondarenko lost in the first round to Paula Ormaechea. Seeded top in qualifying at Miami, she defeated Mirjana Lučić in the final round of qualifying. In the first round, she beat fellow qualifier Urszula Radwańska. In the second, she lost to 20th seed Daniela Hantuchová in a tough three-set match.
Bondarenko began clay-court season at the Charleston Cup. In the first round, she defeated world No. 84, Olga Govortsova. In the second round, she lost easily to fourth seed Vera Zvonareva. At the Porsche Grand Prix, Bondarenko reached the final round of qualifying where she lost to Anna Chakvetadze. Still entering the draw as a lucky loser, she lost in the first round to qualifier Gréta Arn. At the Italian Open, she retired in the first round of qualifying, trailing 7–6 to Anastasia Rodionova. At the Brussels Open, she lost in the first round to tenth seed Nadia Petrova. Playing at the French Open, Bondarenko lost in the first round to qualifier Chan Yung-jan.
She played only one grass-court tournament to prepare for Wimbledon. At the Rosmalen Open, she upset second seed Sara Errani in the first round in three sets. In the second round, she lost to world No. 53, Kim Clijsters. At Wimbledon, she beat world No. 82, Kimiko Date-Krumm, in the first round but was eliminated in the second by 14th seed Ana Ivanovic. Bondarenko had led their head-to-head 2–0.
At the Swedish Open, she defeated qualifier Carina Witthöft in the first round, in two sets. In the second, she lost to seventh seed Mona Barthel in straight sets. Representing Ukraine at the Summer Olympics, Bondarenko lost in the first round to sixth seed Petra Kvitová, in three sets.
Playing qualifying at the Cincinnati Open, she lost in the final round of qualifying to Eleni Daniilidou. At the New Haven Open, Bondarenko was defeated in the first round of qualifying by Anastasia Rodionova. At the US Open, the final tournament of her career, she lost in the first round to 30th seed and former world No. 1, Jelena Janković.
Bondarenko then retired from the WTA Tour due to being pregnant.