Vera Zvonareva

Vera Zvonareva

Zvonareva at the 2004 French Open Zvonareva at the 2004 French Open
Country (sports)	Russia
Residence	Moscow, Russia
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Turned pro	September, 2000
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$4,122,624
Singles
Career record	304–152
Career titles	7 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 9 (October 6, 2008)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	4R (2004, 2007)
French Open	QF (2003)
Wimbledon	4R (2003, 2004)
US Open	4R (2004)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	RR (2004)
Olympic Games	Bronze medal (2008)
Doubles
Career record	130–87
Career titles	4 WTA, 0 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 9 (August 8, 2005)
Last updated on: October 6, 2008.

Olympic medal record
Women's Tennis
	2008 Beijing	Singles

Vera Igorevna Zvonareva (Russian: , IPA: [ˈvʲεra zvɔnarˈjɔva]; born September 7, 1984, Moscow, Russia) is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. As of October 6, 2008, she is ranked World No. 9, the highest ranking of her career.

Zvonareva has won seven WTA Tour singles titles, four WTA Tour doubles titles and two ITF Women's Circuit singles titles. In her first few years on the professional tour, she became known for her fragile psyche, often breaking down in tears during matches. Critics cited her unstable emotions as a reason why her results may have fallen short of her expectations. Her first Grand Slam singles quarterfinal came at the 2003 French Open after defeating Venus Williams in the fourth round. Of her seven singles titles, two have been at the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee.

She is an Olympic medalist, having won a bronze in singles for Russia at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2008, she won the opening rubber of the Fed Cup final against Spain, helping Russia to its third win in four years. She also won the decisive final rubber in the team's 2004 Fed Cup victory, partnering Anastasia Myskina.

Early life

Zvonareva was born September 7, 1984 in Moscow, Russia to Igor Zvonarev and Natalia Zvonareva. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six by her mother, although no other members of her family play the game.

Career

1999-2001

Zvonareva started to compete on the ITF Circuit in 1999, debuting at an ITF tournament in Tbilisi, Georgia. She won three qualifying matches there to reach the main draw before losing in the first round. The next year, she won an ITF event in Moscow, Russia 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 events in Key Biscayne, Florida and Moscow, but reached a semifinal at the ITF Circuit tournament in Civitanova, Italy. During this time, she also showed her adeptness in juniors' competition by winning the Orange Bowl under-18s event in 2000 and 2001.

2002

Zvonareva won her second ITF Circuit 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. 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 4–6, 6–0, 6–1. Her ranking was high enough for a direct entry into Wimbledon where she lost in the second round to 23rd-seeded Iva Majoli 7–6(5), 6–2. At the US Open, Zvonareva lost to World No. 7 Kim Clijsters of Belgium in the third round 1–6, 7–5, 6–4. Her ranking rose into the top 100 after the French Open and into the top 50 after the US Open.

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 the Russian Fed Cup team was in the World Group quarterfinals against Slovenia. Russia won 5–0 but lost to France 3–2 in the semifinals. In doubles, she reached her first WTA final at Moscow with Myskina. She ended the year ranked World No. 13.

2004

Zvonareva won her first career Grand Slam title, winning the mixed doubles competition at the US Open. She won one singles title, in Memphis, Tennessee, and reached the final of the events in Cincinnati, Ohio and Philadelphia, losing to top ten players Lindsay Davenport and Amélie Mauresmo respectively. 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 4–6, 6–4, 7–5. 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 finished 17–15. Zvonareva and Myskina teamed up in the final of the Fed Cup, playing in the crucial final rubber against Marion Bartoli & Emilie Loit, which the pair won 7–6(5), 7–5 to seal Russia's first ever Fed Cup title.

Zvonareva ended the year ranked World No. 11, her best year-end ranking. In August, she reached her career high of World No. 9. Because of several withdrawals, Zvonareva was able to compete at the WTA Tour 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.

2006

In 2006, Zvonareva won her first regular doubles Grand Slam tournament in the US Open, partnering Nathalie Dechy of France. She obtained a second mixed doubles title at Wimbledon, in partnering Andy Ram of Israel. They defeated Americans Bob Bryan and Venus Williams 6–2, 6–3. 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 DFS Classic in Birmingham, 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

The 2007 season produced a year of mixed fortunes for Zvonareva. At the 2007 Pacific Life Open, she stunned World No. 1 Maria Sharapova, who was the defending champion, 4–6, 7–5, 6–1 in the fourth round. It was her first ever victory over a reigning World No. 1; however, she fell in the next round to Chinese player Li Na. At her next tournament, the Family Circle Cup, she was forced to retire when playing Dinara Safina and down a set, due to a left wrist injury. This injury was to keep out of the European clay court season, the grass court season and most of the North American hardcourt season. On returning to the tour, she reached the third round of the U.S. 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 coming in Luxembourg and Quebec. Her one final came during the first week of the year, in Auckland, Australia.

2008

Zvonareva began the year by losing to wildcard Marina Erakovic, then ranked World No. 153, at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. She then reached the final of the Tier IV Moorilla Hobart International in Hobart, Australia, where she had to retire from the final against Eleni Daniilidou because of an ankle injury. This injury also forced her to retire in her first round match at the Australian Open against Ai Sugiyama while trailing 6–3, 1–1.

She then reached the final of the Tier I Qatar Total 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 6–1, 2–6, 6–0.

In March, Zvonareva reached the quarterfinals of the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California before losing to eventual champion Ana Ivanović 6–1, 6–4. Two weeks later, Zvonareva reached the semifinals of the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida where she lost to fourth-seeded Jelena Janković 6–1, 6–4.

Zvonareva then reached her third final overall and second Tier I final of the year at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina. En route to the final, she defeated World No. 5 Janković and World No. 8 Elena Dementieva, the first time in her career that she defeated two top 10 players in the same tournament. In the final, she lost to fifth-seeded Serena Williams 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

In May, Zvonareva won her first WTA title in nearly two years. At the Tier IV ECM Prague Open, Zvonareva defeated third-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the final 7-6(2), 6-2. This was her sixth career singles title. She then lost to Venus Williams in the third round of the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome and to Dementieva in the fourth round of the French Open.

On grass, Zvonareva lost her first match at the International Women's Open in Eastbourne, United Kingdom and her second round match with Tamarine Tanasugarn at Wimbledon.

During the North American summer hardcourt season, commonly known as the US Open Series, she lost in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, the second round of the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles, and the first round of the Tier I Rogers Cup in Montreal.

At the Beijing Olympics, Zvonareva lost in the semifinals to fifth seeded Elena Dementieva 6–3, 7–6(3) but then defeated Chinese player Li Na 6-0, 7-5 to win the bronze medal, her first medal of any kind. These results caused Zvonareva's ranking to rise 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 6–3, 6–3.

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 6–3, 6–4.

At the Tier II Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Zvonareva lost a hard fought quarterfinal against Janković that went to two tiebreaks.

Grand Slam finals (3)

Women's doubles wins (1)

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score/Final
2006	US Open	Nathalie Dechy	Dinara Safina Katarina Srebotnik	7–6, 7–5

Mixed doubles wins (2)

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score/Final
2004	US Open	Bob Bryan	Alicia Molik Todd Woodbridge	6–3, 6–4
2006	Wimbledon	Andy Ram	Bob Bryan Venus Williams	6–3, 6–2

Titles

Singles wins (7 WTA, 2 ITF)

Legend

Grand Slam (0)

WTA Championships

Tier I (0)

Tier II (0)

Tier III (6)

Tier IV (1)

ITF Tour (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	September 24, 2000	ITF / Moscow, Russia	Carpet	Maria Goloviznina	6–4, 6–2
2.	April 14, 2002	ITF / Naples, Florida, USA	Clay	Maureen Drake	6–1, 6–3
3.	May 4, 2003	Bol, Croatia	Clay	Conchita Martínez Granados	6–1, 6–3
4.	February 21, 2004	Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.	Hard (i)	Lisa Raymond	4–6, 6–4, 7–5
5.	February 19, 2005	Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.	Hard (i)	Meghann Shaughnessy	7–6(3), 6–2
6.	June 18, 2006	Birmingham, England	Grass	Jamea Jackson	7–6(12), 7–6(5)
7.	July 23, 2006	Cincinnati, Ohio, USA	Hard	Katarina Srebotnik	6–2, 6–4
8.	May 4, 2008	Prague, Czech Republic	Clay	Victoria Azarenka	7–6(2), 6–2
9.	September 21, 2008	Guangzhou, China	Hard	Peng Shuai	6–7(4), 6–0, 6–2

Doubles wins (4 WTA)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in the final	Score
1.	October 10, 2004	Moscow, Russia	Carpet	Anastasia Myskina	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	6–3, 4–6, 6–2
2.	May 2, 2005	Berlin, Germany	Clay	Elena Likhovtseva	Cara Black Liezel Huber	4–6, 6–4, 6–3
3.	January 2, 2006	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Elena Likhovtseva	Émilie Loit Barbora Strýcová	6–3, 6–4
4.	August 28, 2006	U.S. Open, United States	Hard	Nathalie Dechy	Dinara Safina Katarina Srebotnik	7–6(5), 7–5

WTA Tour runner-ups (13)

Singles (8)

• 2002: Palermo (lost to Mariana Diaz-Oliva)
• 2004: Cincinnati (lost to Lindsay Davenport)
• 2004: Philadelphia (lost to Amélie Mauresmo)
• 2006: Auckland (lost to Marion Bartoli)
• 2007: Auckland (lost to Jelena Janković)
• 2008: Hobart (lost to Eleni Daniilidou)
• 2008: Doha (lost to Maria Sharapova)
• 2008: Charleston (lost to Serena Williams)
• 2008: Moscow (lost to Jelena Jankovic)

Doubles (5)

• 2003: Moscow (with Nadia Petrova)
• 2004: Memphis (with Maria Sharapova)
• 2005: Eastbourne (with Elena Likhovtseva)
• 2005: Stanford (with Elena Likhovtseva)
• 2008: Stanford (with Elena Vesnina)

Singles performance timeline

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the US Open in New York City, which ended on September 6, 2008.

Tournament	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Career SR	Career W/L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	1R	4R	2R	1R	4R	1R	0 / 6	7–6
French Open	A	A	A	4R	QF	3R	3R	1R	A	4R	0 / 6	17–6
Wimbledon	A	A	A	2R	4R	4R	2R	1R	A	2R	0 / 6	9–6
US Open	A	A	A	3R	3R	4R	A	3R	3R	2R	0 / 6	12–6
Year-End Championship
WTA Tour Championships	A	A	A	A	A	RR	A	A	A		0 / 1	0–3
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	Not Held	A	Not Held			A	Not Held			SF-B	0 / 1	5–1
WTA Tier I Tournaments
Doha1	Not Held		Not Tier I							F	0 / 1	4–1
Indian Wells	A	A	A	A	QF	4R	A	A	QF	QF	0 / 4	12–4
Miami	A	A	LQ	1R	1R	3R	2R	2R	4R	SF	0 / 8	10–8
Charleston	A	A	A	A	QF	QF	2R	2R	SF	F	0 / 6	15–6
Berlin	A	A	A	A	QF	2R	2R	2R	A	A	0 / 4	5–4
Rome	A	A	A	A	A	SF	SF	3R	A	3R	0 / 4	10–4
Montréal/Toronto	A	A	A	LQ	QF	SF	A	A	A	2R	0 / 4	8–4
Tokyo	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	0 / 1	0–1
Moscow	A	2R	LQ	1R	QF	QF	2R	QF	QF		0 / 8	14–8
San Diego	A	A	A	A	A	SF	2R	3R	A	Not Held	0 / 3	5–3
Zürich	A	A	A	LQ	QF	2R	1R	A	2R	Not Tier I	0 / 5	5–5
Career Statistics											Career total
Tournament Runner-ups	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	1	1	3	8
Tournaments Won	0	1	0	1	1	1	1	2	0	1	8
Overall Win-Loss	3–1	6–2	12–9	41–14	46–24	54–27	21–21	37–22	30–14	44–16	294–150
Year End Ranking	None	357	371	45	13	11	42	24	23

• A = did not participate in the tournament.

External links

• Official website
• Vera Zvonareva at the Women's Tennis Association
• Vera Zvonareva at the Billie Jean King Cup