Early years Bondarenko started competing in the pro tour in 1999 at the age of 14. Then she competed in
ITF Women's Circuit, where she reached two second rounds in
Tallinn, Estonia, and
Kharkiv, Ukraine. She began the year 2000 reaching her first ITF final in
Kalamata, Greece but ended up losing to Ekaterina Kozhokina 5–7, 5–7, even though not losing a set before the finals. She was only able to attain good success in two events, a semifinal in Kędzierzyn-Koźle and a quarterfinal in
Sopot entering as a qualifier. The rest of the year she was failing to qualify in other events. In 2001, she failed to qualify in her first three events in
Dubai,
Caserta and Tallinn. However, she was able two reached two semifinals, in Kędzierzyn-Koźle and Tbilisi. She also managed to reach the quarterfinals in Batumi. 2002 was an inconsistent year, as she managed to reach the semifinals in Buchan before losing to
Syna Schmidle in three sets and then followed it up by falling in the qualifying draw in Dubai. The following week, she reached the second round of Dinan after getting pass the qualifying draw and followed it up by once again failing to qualify. At her next event in
Fontanafredda, she qualified for the main draw again, and won her first ITF title (final against
Mara Santangelo). However, in her next six tournaments she was managing only to reach one second round. After her third final in Batumi, she made first-round exits in
Joué-lès-Tours and
Saint Raphael, both in France. She ended the year with a semifinal appearance in
Poitiers, losing to
Seda Noorlander, 2–6, 1–6. In 2003, Bondarenko tried to qualify for main draws on the tour, but failed in
Hobart,
Melbourne, and
Hyderabad. She then made it through her first
WTA Tour main draw as a direct entry at the
Copa Colsanitas, but ended up losing to
Flavia Pennetta, 3–6, 1–6. She then went back to the ITF Circuit, after failing to qualify in the Abierto Mexicano, only making it through one semifinal (in Taranto) out of seven events. She also failed to qualify for the
French Open and
Wimbledon. In the middle of the two Grand Slam tournaments, she made the quarterfinals of the ITF events in Galatina and Fontanafredda. She also failed to qualify for the
US Open. But after the US Open, she won her second ITF title in Zhukovskiy. At the beginning of 2004, Bondarenko qualified for the first time and even claimed her first victory there, when she defeated
Nuria Llagostera Vives in three sets before being double-
bageled by eventual champion
Fabiola Zuluaga in the next round. After that she then went back to the ITF Circuit where she won her third title in
Bari, prevailing over younger sister
Kateryna in the final, 2–6, 6–2, 6–4. After that, she failed to qualify in any of the WTA events she entered while falling early in the ITF events she entered. She then reached the final of
Orbetello, losing to
Catalina Castaño in three sets. She ended the year with a runner-up performance in Deauville, losing to
Květa Peschke 0–6, 3–6, and quarterfinal appearances in the ITF events of Poitiers and Bergamo.
2005 In 2005, Alona made her Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open, where she suffered a first-round loss to sixth-seeded
Elena Dementieva, 3–6, 3–6. Two weeks later, she reached her first WTA Tour quarterfinal at the
Thailand Open where she lost to eventual runner-up,
Anna-Lena Grönefeld, in straight sets. The following week at
Hyderabad, she reached her first tour final as the tournament's ninth seeded player, falling to hometown favourite
Sania Mirza in three tight sets, 4–6, 7–5, 3–6. However, due to this result she made her first appearance in the top 100 of the WTA rankings. She then qualified for her first Tier-I event in the
Indian Wells Open, and reached the second round before falling to top doubles player
Lisa Raymond 6–4, 3–6, 3–6. She also qualified for the
Miami Open but lost in the opening round to
Alina Jidkova. She received a direct entry to the
Estoril Open, reaching the second round before losing to third seed
Gisela Dulko. In the
Italian Open in Rome, she fell in the qualifying round. She then received direct entry in the
İstanbul Cup,
French Open,
Birmingham Classic, all losing in the first round and failed to qualify in the
Eastbourne International. She, however, made a shocking performance in
Wimbledon, claiming her first Grand Slam match-win and upsetting 20th seed
Tatiana Golovin in the first round, 6–3, 3–6, 7–5, before falling to
Nathalie Dechy 1–6, 4–6 in the third round. She then made early exits at
Modena,
Palermo, in the
Nordic Light Open and the
US Open. Her last good performance of the year was in the
Wismilak International where she reached the quarterfinals before losing to
Li Na after defeating top Australian player
Alicia Molik in the previous round. She ended the year for the first time inside the top 100, at 73.
2006 2006 was a breakthrough year for Bondarenko as she made it inside the top 50, after quarterfinal appearances at
Hobart and
Bangalore, and first-round exits in
Pattaya and at the
Australian Open as well as early exits in Dubai, Doha, and Indian Wells. With her early exit in Indian Wells, Bondarenko decided to compete in Orange, California, an ITF event, claiming the title over
Yvonne Meusburger 6–3, 7–5. Then she made stellar performances in the WTA Tour, making it to the third round of the
Indian Wells Open entering as a qualifier, losing to
Ana Ivanovic 3–6, 7–5, 3–6. On the clay-court season, she made it through the second rounds of top events at the
Amelia Island Championships, losing to
Vera Dushevina 1–6, 4–6, and the
Family Circle Cup, losing to eventual champion
Nadia Petrova 1–6, 6–0, 2–6, the second set was the fewest games Petrova won in a set in the whole tournament. She made it through the quarterfinals of
Prague Open, losing to eventual champion
Shahar Pe'er 5–7, 0–6, and the semifinals of
Morocco Open, losing to
Martina Suchá 3–6, 2–6. She made first-round exits in the
İstanbul Cup,
French Open and
Birmingham Classic but made it through the second round of the
Rosmalen Open before falling to
Jelena Janković 4–6, 6–1, 6–7 and then a first-round exit in Wimbledon. In the US Open Series tournaments, she lost in the first round of the
Stanford Classic and
Canadian Open, the second round of
San Diego Open and the
US Open, and the third round of the
LA Women's Championships. In her first tournament after the US Open, she won her first title in the
Luxembourg Open, ousting
Francesca Schiavone 6–3, 6–2 in the final. She was the second lowest-ranked player ever to win a Tier-II title, being ranked No. 62, the record is held by
Kim Jones-Schaefer who was ranked No. 64. She also made it through the top 50 after her first title. She then failed to qualify in the
Kremlin Cup and the
Zurich Open, and ended the year ranked No. 32.
2007 Bondarenko started with a second-round loss to
Alicia Molik at the
Hobart International, 3–6, 5–7. At the
Australian Open she made a valiant effort, beating two unseeded players to advance to the third round, losing to fourth seed
Kim Clijsters. She then lost in the first round of the
Qatar Open, third round at
Indian Wells and second round at
Miami. She also reached the third round at
Amelia Island, losing to Jelena Janković. On 7 May 2007 she finished runner-up to
Justine Henin at the Tier II
J&S Cup held in
Warsaw, losing 1–6, 3–6. In the semifinals, she got the first top-ten win of her career over then No. 5
Svetlana Kuznetsova, in straight sets. The performance saw her rise into the top 30 for the first time, at No. 29. She then followed it up with third-round appearances at
German Open and
Italian Open, losing to Serbians Ivanovic (retiring at 3–6, 0–5 down) and Janković respectively, which both of them eventually captured the title. She followed it by making the semifinals of the
İstanbul Cup, losing to Dementieva 6–7, 2–6, once again, and this was the fourth time in a row that she has lost to the eventual champion. Despite this good performances she lost to the unseeded and lower-ranked
Karin Knapp of Italy in three sets. She however bounced back with good showings at the grass season, reaching the quarterfinals of both the
Birmingham Classic and
Rosmalen Open, losing both to Janković; this was her fourth loss to her in that year. She then hit her career high shortly after Wimbledon, where she made the third round before losing to
Patty Schnyder 4–6, 6–3, 6–8 after holding a 4–1 lead in the final set. She then came out with a three straight loss in the second round of the
San Diego Open, first rounds of
Stanford Classic and
Rogers Cup. But she rebounded just before the US Open with a quarterfinal showing at the
New Haven Open, she then eventually reached the third round of the
US Open, losing to Venus Williams. She then lost three straight matches in a row, two of them coming from Frenchwoman
Marion Bartoli. On 17 October 2007 Bondarenko beat
Amélie Mauresmo 2–6, 6–4, 6–1 at the
Zurich Open to reach her first ever Tier-I quarterfinal, but lost to
Nicole Vaidišová there. She also reached the quarterfinals of the
Linz Open, losing to eventual champion Daniela Hantuchová. She ended the year at No. 22. On 22 October, she passed $1 million in career prize money, the first player representing Ukraine to pass that milestone.
2008 The beginning of the year brought second-round exits at the
Hobart and
Melbourne, losing to lower-ranked players. On the other hand, Bondarenko won the Australian Open women's doubles title, partnering with her younger sister Kateryna. They defeated the pairing Shahar Pe'er and Victoria Azarenka 2–6, 6–2, 6–4. They became only the second pairing of sisters to win the title, the first being the Williams sisters. She then followed it up with first-round exits at
Paris and
Antwerpen, once again losing to lower-ranked players. She also lost to eventual champion Dementieva at the
Dubai Championships in the second round. She made her first third round of the year at the
Indian Wells Open, losing to
Maria Sharapova, this was the start of good showings from the Ukrainian. She, however, lost to
Kaia Kanepi in the second round at
Miami, after receiving a bye. Continuing her good form, she reached the quarterfinals of
Amelia Island,
Berlin, and
Strasbourg. In the middle of this, she lost in the second round of the
Italian Open reasonably to Serena Williams. Her performance at a major once again was a disappointment as she lost in the first round of the
French Open to
Petra Cetkovská. She then again made great showing at the grass. She reached the quarterfinals of
Birmingham by defeating
Virginia Ruano Pascual and
Sunitha Rao before falling to
Marina Erakovic. Alona also reached the semifinals in
Rosmalen, losing to eventual champion
Tamarine Tanasugarn, she however lost at the second round of
Wimbledon. She then represented Ukraine at the
2008 Olympics, losing to Serbian Jelena Janković in the second round, in the doubles she partnered with sister Kateryna and they came in fourth place. She then reached the third round of the
US Open, losing to Venus Williams. She then lost in the second rounds of
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and
Zurich Open and the first round of
Kremlin Cup to higher ranked players Jelena Janković, Venus Williams, and
Katarina Srebotnik. She ended the year competing in the
Ladies Linz where she lost her quarterfinal match to Marion Bartoli.
2009 The first three months of the year Bondarenko made only one victory in three tournaments and no victories in the other three. However, she managed to reach the third round of the
Australian Open, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in a tight two-setter. At
Amelia Island, she reached her first quarterfinal of the year. In the first round, she defeated Sania Mirza 6–4, 6–3 to set up a clash with sister Kateryna. Alona came from a set down to win 4–6, 6–4, 6–3 before losing to
Nadia Petrova in three sets. She then made it to the second round of
Family Circle Cup and first round of the
Italian Open. She then gave
Ukraine two victories at the second week of the
Fed Cup playoffs. At the
Madrid Open, Bondarenko defeated Kuznetsova in the second round and
Anna Chakvetadze in the third before falling to world No. 1, Dinara Safina, in the quarterfinals. She defeated former world No. 1, Maria Sharapova, 6–2, 6–2 in the quarterfinals of the 2009 red clay event in
Warsaw, and
Anne Keothavong 6–2, 7–5 in the semifinals. She fell to
Alexandra Dulgheru in the final, in three sets. At the
French Open, Bondarenko fell to 20th seed Dominika Cibulková in the first round in three sets. She then performed badly at grass unable to duplicate her performance in the past two years, losing in the second round of the
Rosmalen Open and first round of
Wimbledon to
Elena Baltacha. She then made it to her first semifinal since the
2007 İstanbul Cup, which was more than two years ago. She then lost to sister Kateryna 1–6, 3–6 in the first round of the
Prague Open breaking the tie between the two as she trails her sister 3–4 in head-to-head now. She then reached the third rounds of
LA Championships, losing to Sharapova in three, and
Rogers Cup, losing to Serena Williams. She then reached the second rounds of
Cincinnati Open and
Connecticut Open. In the first round of the
US Open she beat
Alla Kudryavtseva 3–6, 6–3, 6–2, but lost to Gisela Dulko in the second round. In her first tournament since the US Open, she lost in the first round of the
Pan Pacific Open to Vera Dushevina 6–1, 5–7, 1–6. She lost in the third round of the
China Open to Svetlana Kuznetsova 3–6, 6–4, 0–6 after defeating
Ágnes Szávay and
Sara Errani both in straight sets. She played her last tournament of the year at the
Kremlin Cup, where she beat
Anna Chakvetadze, Nadia Petrova and
Tsvetana Pironkova all in straight sets before losing to eventual champion Francesca Schiavone in the semifinals in straight sets as well.
2010 Alona started the year off at the
Hobart International. As the fourth seed, she reached the final defeating
Sybille Bammer, Alizé Cornet, seventh seed Zheng Jie, and top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues. In the final, Alona defeated second seed Shahar Pe'er to win her second WTA singles title and her first title in over three years. Seeded 31st at the
Australian Open, Alona made it to the fourth round beating qualifier Kathrin Wörle,
Polona Hercog, and eighth seed Jelena Janković. She lost her fourth round match to Zheng Jie. Playing for Ukraine in the
Fed Cup tie versus Italy, Alona won her first rubber over Francesca Schiavone, but she lost her second rubber to Flavia Pennetta. Italy ended up winning the tie over Ukraine 4–1. After Fed Cup, Alona played at the
Dubai Tennis Championships. She was defeated in the first round by
Andrea Petkovic. Seeded 20th at the
Indian Wells Open, Alona lost in the second round to Peng Shuai. Seeded 21st at the
Miami Open, Alona was defeated in the second round by Gisela Dulko. Alona started her clay-court season at
Amelia Island. Seeded second, she lost in the first round to eventual finalist Olga Govortsova. In Charleston at the
Family Circle Cup, Alona was the ninth seed. She reached the third round after wins over Julie Ditty and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. She was defeated in her third-round match by seventh seed and eventual finalist
Vera Zvonareva. In the
Fed Cup tie against Australia, Alona lost her match to Anastasia Rodionova. Ukraine ended up losing to Australia 0–5. After playing Fed Cup in Ukraine, Alona flew to Madrid to compete at the
Madrid Open. In the first round, she came back from a set down to defeat
Magdaléna Rybáriková. She then gained the biggest win of her career by defeating world No. 2, Caroline Wozniacki in the second round. Alona was defeated in the third round by 13th seed Li Na. Seeded sixth at the
Warsaw Open, Alona was upset by qualifier
Gréta Arn in the quarterfinals. Seeded 27th at the
French Open, Alona reached the third round for the first time, but she lost to fourth seed Jelena Janković. Seeded 28th at
Wimbledon, Alona was defeated in the third round by fourth seed Jelena Janković. Alona began her US Open series at the
Southern California Open. She lost in the first round to Dinara Safina. In Cincinnati at the
Western & Southern Open, Alona was defeated in the second round by 16th seed Marion Bartoli. At the
Canadian Open, she lost in the first round to qualifier Jarmila Groth. Alona played her final tournament before the US Open at the
Connecticut Open. She fell in the first round to sixth seed Marion Bartoli. Seeded 29th at the
US Open, Alona reached the third round after victories over Vera Dushevina and last year quarterfinalist
Melanie Oudin. She lost in the third round to sixth seed Francesca Schiavone. In Tokyo at the
Pan Pacific Open, she was defeated in the second round by third seed Jelena Janković. At the
China Open, Alona lost in the second round to 13th seed Nadia Petrova. Seeded third at the
Linz Open, she suffered a first-round loss at the hands of Roberta Vinci. Alona played her final tournament of the season at the
Kremlin Cup, and was defeated in the second round by eighth seed María José Martínez Sánchez. She ended the year ranked 36.
2011: Retirement Bondarenko withdrew from the
Hobart International and the
Australian Open. ==Coaches and personal life==