Vera Zvonareva

Vera Igorevna Zvonareva ( rus, Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, p=ˈvʲerə ˈiɡərʲɪvnə zvənɐˈrʲɵvə, a=Vera zvonareva.ogg; born 7 September 1984) is a Russian inactive professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking by the WTA is No. 2 and in doubles world No. 7. Zvonareva has won twelve career singles titles, including the 2009 Indian Wells Open, and reached the finals of the 2008 WTA Tour Championships, 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and 2010 US Open. She was also a bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In doubles, Zvonareva has won five major titles. Three came in women's doubles, first at the 2006 US Open, partnering Nathalie Dechy, and the 2012 Australian Open, with Svetlana Kuznetsova. Following her return to tennis, Zvonareva won her third women's doubles major title at the 2020 US Open, partnering Laura Siegemund. Her other two major titles came in mixed doubles, the first at the 2004 US Open with Bob Bryan, and her second at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, with Andy Ram. She also won the doubles title at the 2023 WTA Finals partnering Siegemund.

Early life

Zvonareva was born in 1984 in Moscow to Igor Zvonarev and Natalia Bykova. Igor played Bandy in the USSR championship with Dynamo Moscow, and Nataliya played field hockey and was the bronze medalist at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Zvonareva was introduced to tennis at age six by her mother.

Career

1999–2002: Early career, ITF titles and top 50

Zvonareva started to compete on the ITF Women's Circuit in 1999, debuting at a tournament in Tbilisi, Georgia. She won three qualifying matches there to reach the main draw before losing in the first round.

The following year 2000, she turned professional and won an ITF event in Moscow, without dropping a set, despite being unranked. The event was just the second event she had played in her professional career. Five weeks later, she made her WTA-level debut at the Tier I tournament in Moscow, beating world No. 148, Elena Bovina, before losing to world No. 11, Anna Kournikova, in the second round. In 2001, she failed to qualify for WTA Tour events in Key Biscayne and Moscow, but reached a semifinal at the ITF tournament in Civitanova, Italy. During this time, she won the Orange Bowl Under-18s event in 2000 and 2001.

In 2002, Zvonareva won her second ITF title in Naples, Florida and in July reached her first singles final on the WTA Tour at Palermo, losing to Mariana Díaz Oliva, in three sets. She also achieved semifinal finishes in Warsaw and Sopot, plus a quarterfinal finish in Bol, Croatia. Zvonareva won three qualifying matches at the French Open to reach the main draw for the first time at a Grand Slam tournament. She lost there in the fourth round to eventual champion, Serena Williams, in three sets. Her ranking was high enough for a direct entry into the Wimbledon Championships, where she lost in the second round to the 23rd seed Iva Majoli. At the US Open, Zvonareva lost to world No. 7, Kim Clijsters, in the third round. Her ranking rose into the top 100 after the French Open and into the top 50 after the US Open.

2003–2004: French Open quarterfinal, top-10 debut and first major doubles title

In 2003, Zvonareva won the title at the Tier-III event in Bol, beating Conchita Martínez Granados in the final, and reached three other semifinals (including the Tier-II event in Linz). She defeated a top-10 player for the first time when she beat world No. 10, Anastasia Myskina, in Berlin. At the French Open, Zvonareva defeated world No. 3, Venus Williams, in the fourth round, before losing in the quarterfinals to world No. 76, Nadia Petrova. Her French Open results caused her ranking to enter the top 20. She reached the quarterfinals in six out of the seven Tier I events she contested. Her debut for Russia in Fed Cup was in the World Group quarterfinals against Slovenia. Russia won 5–0, but lost to France 2–3 in the semifinals. In doubles, she reached her first WTA Tour final at Moscow with Myskina. She ended the year ranked No. 13.

In 2004, Zvonareva won her first career Grand Slam title, winning the mixed doubles competition at the US Open with Bob Bryan. She won one singles title, in Memphis and reached the final of the events in Cincinnati and Philadelphia, losing to top-10 players Lindsay Davenport and Amélie Mauresmo. In the final of the Memphis event, Zvonareva trailed hometown favorite Lisa Raymond 5–2 in the third set, before saving three match points and winning the last five games of the match to win the title. In addition to this, she reached the semifinals of three Tier-I tournaments in Rome, San Diego, and Montreal. She lost in San Diego to fellow Russian Anastasia Myskina in a match that featured a final set tiebreak that ended 17–15. Zvonareva and Myskina teamed in the final of the Fed Cup, playing in the crucial final rubber against Marion Bartoli and Émilie Loit, which the pair won, 7–6, 7–5, to seal Russia's first Fed Cup title.

Zvonareva ended 2004 the year ranked world No. 11. In August, she reached her then-career high of world No. 9. Because of several withdrawals, Zvonareva was able to compete at the WTA Championships, an event reserved for the top eight players in the world. She was unable to win a match and exited at the round-robin stage.

2005: First injury

Zvonareva obtained an invitation from the Hong Kong Tennis Patrons' Association to play in the Watsons Water Champions Challenge. She defended her Memphis title, defeating Meghann Shaughnessy but she was injured in the second half of 2005. Her ranking dropped from No. 11 to 42.

2006: Two major doubles titles

In 2006, Zvonareva won her first women's doubles major tournament at the US Open, partnering Nathalie Dechy of France. She won a second mixed doubles title at Wimbledon, partnering Andy Ram of Israel. They defeated Bob Bryan and Venus Williams, in straight sets. She garnered some success in singles competition, winning two titles in a season for the first time in her career. This included her first tournament win on grass, at the Birmingham Classic in England. Her other title came in Cincinnati, where she played a nearly flawless match against Serena Williams in the semifinals, and beat Katarina Srebotnik in the final.

2007: Second injury

The 2007 season was a year of mixed fortune for Zvonareva. At Indian Wells, she stunned world No. 1, Maria Sharapova, who was the defending champion, in three sets in the fourth round, marking her first victory over a reigning world No. 1. However, she fell in the next round to Li Na. At her next tournament, the Charleston Open, she retired when playing Dinara Safina and down a set, due to a left wrist injury. This injury kept her out of the European clay-court season, the grass-court season, and most of the North American hard-court season. On returning to the tour, she reached the third round of the US Open, losing to Serena Williams. At the remaining tournaments on her schedule, she reached the quarterfinals or better at four out of five, with semifinal finishes in Luxembourg and Quebec. Her one final came during the first week of the year, in Auckland, New Zealand.

2008: Back into top 10, Olympic bronze and WTA Tour Championships final

Zvonareva began the year by losing to wildcard Marina Erakovic, then ranked world No. 153, at Auckland, and then reached the final of the Hobart International. She did not play the final against Eleni Daniilidou because of an ankle injury, and this injury also forced her to retire in her first-round match at the Australian Open against Ai Sugiyama, trailing 3–6, 1–1.

She then reached the final of the Tier I Qatar Open in Doha, beating Dinara Safina, Sybille Bammer, and Li Na along the way. In the final against world No. 5 and fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova, Zvonareva lost in three sets. In March, at the Bangalore Open, Zvonareva lost in the quarterfinals to Venus Williams. Zvonareva then reached the quarterfinals of the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, before losing to eventual champion Ana Ivanovic, 1–6, 4–6. Two weeks later, Zvonareva reached the semifinals of the Tier I Miami Open in Key Biscayne, where she lost to fourth seed Jelena Janković, 1–6, 4–6.

On clay, Zvonareva then reached her third final overall and second Tier I final of the year at the Charleston Cup. En route to the final, she defeated world No. 5, Jelena Janković, and world No. 8, Elena Dementieva, the first time in her career that she beat two top-10 players in the same tournament. In the final, she lost to fifth seed Serena Williams in three sets. In May, Zvonareva won her first WTA title in nearly two years. At the Tier IV ECM Prague Open, Zvonareva defeated third seed Victoria Azarenka in the final. This was her sixth career singles title. She then lost to Venus Williams in the third round of the Tier I Italian Open, and to Dementieva in the fourth round of the French Open.

On grass court, Zvonareva lost her first match at the Eastbourne International and her second-round match against Tamarine Tanasugarn at Wimbledon.

During the North American summer hard-court season, commonly known as the US Open Series, she lost in the first round of the Stanford Classic, the second round of the L.A. Championships, and the first round of the Tier I Rogers Cup in Montreal. At the Beijing Olympics, Zvonareva lost in the semifinals to fifth seeded Dementieva, 4–6, 6–7, but then defeated Li Na to win the bronze medal. With these results Zvonareva's ranking rose to a career-high-equaling world No. 9. Two weeks later, Zvonareva was seeded eighth at the US Open, but lost in the second round to Tatiana Perebiynis of Ukraine, 3–6, 3–6.

In September, Zvonareva helped Russia to victory against Spain in the final of the Fed Cup. Zvonareva won the opening match of the tie in Madrid, defeating Anabel Medina Garrigues, in straight sets. At the Guangzhou International Open, a Tier III event, she defeated Zheng Jie in straight sets in the semifinals, before beating Peng Shuai in the final. She then reached the semifinals at the China Open in Beijing, losing a three-set match to top-seeded Janković. At the Tier II Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Zvonareva lost in the quarterfinals, again to Janković, 6–7, 6–7. In her hometown event, the Kremlin Cup in Moscow the next week, Zvonareva beat second seed Dinara Safina in straight sets in the semifinals, but lost to Janković for the third time in three weeks in the final in straight sets. In a second-round match against Medina Garrigues at the Zurich Open, Zvonareva retired from the match while trailing 3–6, 0–3. However, she then reached the final of the Linz Open in Austria, beating Marion Bartoli in the semifinals, 6–0, 6–1, before losing the final to Ivanovic in straight sets, hitting 32 unforced errors.

To finish off the year, Zvonareva qualified for the year-end WTA Finals (open to the top eight players) for the second time in her career. To accrue enough points to qualify, she had played six consecutive tournaments after the US Open. In her first round-robin match, she won against compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6–2, 6–3. Zvonareva then beat Ivanovic, before completing a clean sweep of her group by defeating world No. 1, Janković, again on three sets. She reached the final by defeating Olympic gold medalist Dementieva, but lost a three-setter to Wimbledon champion Venus Williams.

2009: First major semifinal and Indian Wells champion

Zvonareva was seventh seed at the Australian Open. She defeated tenth seed Nadia Petrova in the fourth round, and 16th seed Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals both in straight sets. She then lost to world No. 3, Dinara Safina, in the semifinals. This tournament, however, caused Zvonareva's ranking to rise to world No. 5, the highest of her career at the time.

In February, she won the Pattaya Open in Thailand where she defeated Sania Mirza in the final. She also played the Dubai Championships, a Premier 5 event, where she defeated Marion Bartoli in the third round, before losing to Virginie Razzano in the quarterfinals, 6–7, 5–7.

In March, Zvonareva was the fourth seed at the first Premier Mandatory event of the year, the Indian Wells Open. She won the title, overcoming Santa Ana winds and defending champion Ana Ivanovic in the final. In the doubles final, she and Victoria Azarenka beat unseeded Gisela Dulko and Shahar Pe'er.

At Key Biscayne, at the second Premier Mandatory event of the year, Zvonareva beat Tathiana Garbin of Italy in the second round, before being upset in the third round by Li Na. Zvonereva had beaten Li the previous week in the fourth round of the Indian Wells Open.

At the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, Zvonareva was the third seed and received a first-round bye. She beat Rossana de los Ríos in the second round, 6–3, 6–2. In the third round against Virginie Razzano, she was forced to retire due to an ankle injury. Zvonareva tore two ligaments in her ankle, which later forced her to withdraw from Russia's Fed Cup tie with Italy. The ongoing ankle injury forced her to withdraw from the Italian Open in Rome and the Madrid Open, and ultimately the French Open.

Zvonareva was seeded seventh at the Wimbledon and met Georgie Stoop in the first round. The game was close, being abandoned due to bad light at the end of the first day at one set apiece. Zvonareva went on to win beating Mathilde Johansson

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