By Erik Gudris                          Photo Credit: Natasha Peterson/Corleve

(March 13th, 2012) After her tough three-set win over U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur  in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open, Russian veteran Nadia Petrova gave an insightful press conference as to where she is both personally and professionally in her life right now.

A former top five player and French Open semifinalist, the 29-year old Petrova, currently ranked No. 33 on the WTA, has spent over ten years on tour and earned close to $10 million in prize money. Despite a good career, many feel Petrova hasn't lived up to her full potential, something she feels is still within her reach.

"I'm pushing towards the end of my career, said Petrova in her post-match press conference. "I still know that I have a couple good years left. So I want to maximize. I want to give it all, so then I can, you know, say I have done it all, no regrets...I want to get back into top 10. I think that would be great. I have been out of that category of players already for a couple of years, and it would be a nice thing for me to challenge the new players like, let's say Kvitova, Azarenka."

Petrova, a Moscow native, confirmed she applied for a U.S. Green Card earlier this year to become a U.S. citizen and plans to live full time in South Beach, Florida when she eventually retires from the sport.

"I feel very comfortable in South Florida. I like the lifestyle. I like the weather. It's just a perfect place for tennis."

Regarding her tennis, Petrova confirmed she is now working with her new coach, Ricardo Sanchez since the Australian Open and that it was a pairing she had been hoping for for a long time.

"I really wanted to have the best, and with Ricardo, I mean, I know him for almost like 10 years.  He's been on the tour and worked with great players. I never had an opportunity to work with him; I always wanted to work with him. I was always trying to find that opportunity to work, but it just didn't ‑ actually for both of us ‑ didn't work until now."

Petrova, who had a rough start to 2012, now finds herself in the fourth round of Indian Wells where she will meet her doubles partner Maria Kirilenko later tonight. Asked about the challenge of facing your fellow doubles partner on the singles court, Petrova admitted it was tough but that it was part of the job.

"It's not that easy to play your doubles partner, especially we do practice quite a lot, warm up together, spend a lot of time together. It maybe a little bit kind of in a way uncomfortable. But she wants to win, I want to win, and we just have to put those things aside and go out there and do your best on the court."