Vera Zvonareva

Infobox Tennis player
playername= Vera Zvonareva


country= flagcountry|Russia
residence= Moscow, Russia
datebirth= birth date and age|1984|9|7
placebirth= Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
height= height|m=1.72
weight= convert|59.1|kg|lb st|abbr=on|lk=on
turnedpro= September, 2000
plays= Right-handed
(two-handed backhand)
careerprizemoney= $4,122,624
singlesrecord= 304–152
singlestitles= 7 WTA, 2 ITF
highestsinglesranking= No. 9 (October 6, 2008)
AustralianOpenresult= 4R (2004, 2007)
FrenchOpenresult= QF (2003)
Wimbledonresult= 4R (2003, 2004)
USOpenresult= 4R (2004)
Othertournaments=Yes
WTAChampionshipsresult=RR (2004)
Olympicsresult=Bronze medal (2008)
doublesrecord= 130–87
doublestitles= 4 WTA, 0 ITF
highestdoublesranking= No. 9 (August 8, 2005)
updated= October 6, 2008

Vera Igorevna Zvonareva (Audio-ru|Вера Игоревна Звонарёва|Vera_zvonareva.ogg|listen, pronounced|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. [ [http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/players/playerprofiles/PlayerBio2.asp?PlayerID=260142 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour] ] 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. [ [http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sports/story.html?id=613e488f-e7fc-42be-8d45-3f68414a330d Nadal makes it 4 straight wins at Barcelona Open] ] 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. [citeweb|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7615395.stm|title=Russia cruise to Fed Cup defence|publisher=BBC Sport|date=2008-09-14|accessdate=2008-09-14]

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)

Doubles wins (4 WTA)

WTA Tour runner-ups (13)

ingles (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)

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)

ingles 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."
*A = did not participate in the tournament.

External links

* [http://www.zvonareva.ru Official website]
*wta|id=260142
*ITF female profile|number=35011959
*FedCupplayerlink|id=35011959

References