Vera Zvonareva (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. On August 9, 2004, she reached her career high ranking of No. 9 in the world. Zvonareva has won five WTA Tour singles titles, four WTA Tour doubles titles and two ITF Women's Circuit singles titles. In her first few years on the pro 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 quarterfinal came at the 2003 French Open, defeating Venus Williams in the fourth round. Of her six singles titles, two have been at the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee. Early Life Vera 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 Early Career Vera Zvonareva started to compete on the ITF Circuit in 1999, debuting at an ITF tournament in Tbilisi, Georgia. She qualified for the main draw there. The next year, she won an ITF event in Moscow, Russia without dropping a set, despite being unranked. The event is just the second event she has played in her career. She made her WTA-level debut at Tier I Moscow, beating 148th-ranked Elena Bovina before losing to eleventh-ranked Anna Kournikova in the second round. In 2001, she failed to qualify for WTA events in Miami and Moscow, but reached a semifinal in the ITF Circuit. During this time, she also showed her adeptness in juniors' competition by winning the Orange Bowl under-18s event. 2002 2002 was Zvonareva's first season in which she started to play more WTA-level events. Vera Zvonareva won her second ITF Circuit title in Naples, Florida, and then 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, Sopot plus a quarterfinal finish in Bol. Zvonareva qualified for her Grand Slam debut at Roland Garros, where she reached the fourth round, stretching eventual champion Serena Williams to three sets. At the US Open, she stretched seventh-ranked Kim Clijsters of Belgium to the limit, losing 1–6, 7–5, 6–4 in the third round. She broke the Top 100 after Roland Garros, then the Top 50 after the US Open.
Zvonareva had a breakthrough season in 2003. She won the title in Bol, beating Conchita Martinez Granados in the final, and reaching three other semifinals (including Tier II Linz). At Roland Garros, Vera Zvonareva defeated third-ranked Venus Williams in the fourth round for her best career victory so far, but fell in the quarters to Nadia Petrova. Before beating Williams, she defeated tenth-ranked Anastasia Myskina in Berlin for her first Top 10 win. After her Roland Garros showing, she broke the Top 20. Out of seven Tier I events she contested, six ended in the quarterfinals. Her debut for the Russian Fed Cup team was in the World Group quarterfinals against Slovenia. Russia won 5–0 but lost to Russia 3–2 in the semifinals. In doubles, she reached her first WTA final at Moscow with Myskina. She ended 2003 ranked No. 13 in the world. 2004 Vera Zvonareva won the first Grand Slam title of her career, winning the mixed doubles competition at the US Open. She won one singles title, in Memphis; and reached the final of two other events in the U.S, Cincinnati and Philadelphia, losing to top ten players Lindsay Davenport and Amelie Mauresmo respectively. She produced a remarkable comeback at the Memphis event, playing against home favourite Lisa Raymond, after having been down 5–2 in the third set and saving three match points. She was able to take the next five games and emerged the victor, 4–6, 6–4, 7–5. In addition to this, she reached the semifinal stage of three elite 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 tie-break that finished 17–15. Vera Zvonareva was rewarded with her best year-end ranking position, finishing No. 11 in the world. In August, she reached her career high of No. 9. Due to several withdrawals, Zvonareva was able to compete at the WTA Tour Championships, an event reserved for the top 8 players in the world. She was unable to win a match and exited at the round robin stage.
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. Vera Zvonareva 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. 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, Vera Zvonareva 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 Vera Zvonareva began 2008 with a run to the final of the Tier IV Moorilla International, where she had to pull out of the final against Eleni Daniilidou due to an ankle injury, which forced her to retire in her first round at the Australian Open against Ai Sugiyama, trailing 3–6, 1–1. However she played very well in Qatar and has reached the semifinals of the Tier I tournament, beating Dinara Safina and Sybille Bammer on her way there. She defeated Li Na in the semifinals of the Qatar Total Open to reach the final against World No. 5 and 4th seed Maria Sharapova, where Zvonareva was defeated 6–1, 2–6, 6–0 in a rollercoaster finale to the first Tier I event of the year. In March and April, Zvonareva continued her good form at further Tier I tournaments. Participating in the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells; she reached the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Ana Ivanović 6–1, 6–4. Two weeks later Vera Zvonareva progressed to the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. Her bid to reach a third final of the year was thwarted by fourth seed Jelena Jankovic 6–1, 6–4. Two weeks later she reached her third final and second Tier I final of the year. En route to the finals, she defeated Jelena Jankovic and Jelena Jankovic. This was the first time in her career that she defeated two top 10 players in the same tournament. In the final she lost to 5th seed Serena Williams 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. On May 4, 2008, Vera Zvonareva, 23, won her first WTA title in nearly 2 years. Vera Zvonareva was a 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 winner against third seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the ECM Prague Open for her 6th title and first since Cincinnati in 2006. Grand Slam finals (3) Doubles wins (1) Mixed doubles wins (2)
Go to the List of Male and Female Tennis Players Source of this Vera Zvonareva article: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia |
