Zaiga Jansone-Ivanova (born ) is a former Soviet

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

player and tennis coach. She was a five-time Soviet champion in women's doubles,

1973 Summer Universiade The 1973 Summer Universiade, also known as the VII Summer Universiade, took place in Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The c ...

champion in women's doubles (all with

Olga Morozova Olga Vasilyevna Morozova ( rus, link=no, Ольга Васильевна Морозова, , ˈolʲɡə mɐˈrozəvə, a=Ru-Olga_Morozova.ogg; born 22 February 1949) is a retired tennis player who competed for the Soviet Union. She was the run ...

) and winner of the exhibition tennis event of 1968 Olympics in mixed doubles (with Vladimir Korotkov).

Biography

Zaiga Jansone was born in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the ...

in 1951. Her father Jānis was her first tennis coach, and in the following years she has also been coached by Serguey Andreev and future Russian Tennis Hall-of-famer Semyon Belits-Geiman. She was representing clubs Daugava (Riga), CSKA (Moscow) and ASK (Riga). Zaiga's best years in tennis encompassed the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1968 she won a gold medal at the exhibition tennis event at Mexico Olympics where she partnered with Vladimir Korotkov in mixed doubles. In the final game they defeated the German-American team Peaches Bartkowicz-

Ingo Buding Ingo Dietmar Buding (9 January 1942 – 13 March 2003) was a West German tennis player. His sisters Edda and Ilse were also tennis players. Buding reached the quarterfinals of Roland Garros in 1965 and won the boys' singles title in 1959 and 1 ...

. She also was awarded a bronze medal in women's doubles in the same event despite not winning a single tie: she and her Mexican partner Cecilia Rosado did not have to play a quarterfinals game and received bronze medals by default as semifinalists despite losing in semifinals to the eventual champions Rosa Maria Darmon and

Julie Heldman Julie Heldman (born December 8, 1945) is an American tennis player who won 22 singles titles. In 1969 and 1974, she was ranked as the world No. 5. In 1968 and 1969, she was ranked No. 2 in the U.S. She was Canadian National 18 and Under Singles ...

. Between 1969 and 1973 Zaiga Jansone, paired with

, won the Soviet tennis championships in women's doubles five times in a row. In 1970 she also met Morozova in the singles finals but lost 4–6, 3–6. Between 1969 and 1973 Morozova and Zaiga (who by 1973 was playing under family name Jansone-Ivanova) also won the European amateur championships four times and

in women's doubles. Jansone's best results in open tennis tournaments where amateurs could play against world's best professionals came in 1971. That year she reached 4th round at the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...

in singles (eventually losing to the sixth-seed

Nancy Richey Nancy Richey (born August 23, 1942) is an American former tennis player. Richey won two major singles titles (the 1967 Australian Championships and 1968 French Open) and four major women's doubles titles (the 1965 US Championships, 1966 Austral ...

) as well as her only finals at an open event: she and Morozova lost in the finals of

Kent Championships The Kent Championships also known as the Kent All-Comers' Championships was a tennis tournament held in Foxgrove Road, Beckenham, Kent, England between 1886 and 1996 and was held in the first half of June. From 1887 until 1910 the tournament was ...

Christine Janes Christine Clara Truman Janes (born 16 January 1941) is a former tennis player from the United Kingdom who was active from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. She won a singles Grand Slam title at the French Championships in 1959 and was a finalist a ...

and

Nell Truman Frances Ellen 'Nell' Truman Robinson (12 December 1945 – 8 April 2012), was a female tennis player from the United Kingdom who was active in the 1960s and early 1970s and was mainly known for her performance as a doubles player. Nell Truman was ...

. Her best result in mixed doubles came also at Wimbledon Championships two years earlier when she and Sergei Likhachev lost in fourth round to Koji Watanabe and

Kazuko Sawamatsu Kazuko Sawamatsu ( ja, 沢松和子, born 5 January 1951) is a retired tennis player from Japan. She competed in a number of major LTA tournaments in the 1970s on the world circuit. At the 1975 Australian Open, she reached the quarterfinals as w ...

.1969 Wimpledon Championships: gentlemen and mixed doubles
at the ITF website Zaiga Jansone-Ivanova graduated in 1981 from the

Latvian State University University of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Universitāte, shortened ''LU'') is a state-run university located in Riga, Latvia established in 1919. The ''QS World University Rankings'' places the university between 801st and 1000th globally, seventh ...

where she was studying journalism but her further career was in coaching. She first coached at the

Jūrmala Jūrmala (; "seaside") is a state city in Latvia, about west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a stretch of white-sand beach, and a population of 49,325 in 2019 ...

Sports School and in 1993 started her own Zaiga Jansone-Ivanova Tennis School in the same city.

WTA Finals

Doubles (0-1)

ITF Finals

Singles (0–2)

Doubles (11–1)

References

External sources

Profile
at the

Latvian Olympic Committee The Latvian Olympic Committee ( or LOK) is a non-profit organization that is the National Olympic Committee for Latvia. Its headquarters are in Riga. History The Committee was created on 23 April 1922. In 1923 it received a notice from Internat ...

official website *
Zaiga Jansone-Ivanova Tennis School
at Latsports.lv {{DEFAULTSORT:Jansone, Zaiga Soviet female tennis players Latvian tennis coaches Sportspeople from Riga Tennis players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Universiade medalists in tennis 1951 births Living people University of Latvia alumni Universiade gold medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1973 Summer Universiade