| Name |
Vera Zvonareva |
| Height |
5 ft 6 in |
| Naionality |
Russian |
| Date of Birth |
7-September-1984 |
| Place of Birth |
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Famous for |
Tennis Player |
Vera Zvonareva is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. Her career high is World No. 2 by the WTA, and she is currently ranked as the World No. 132. Zvonareva has won twelve WTA Tour singles titles and reached the finals of the 2008 WTA Tour Championships, 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and 2010 US Open.
She also was a bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. 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. Zvonareva began her 2012 season at the Apia International, losing in the opening round to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
At the Australian Open, she defeated Alexandra Dulgheru in the first round and Lucie Hradecka in the second round before falling to compatriot Ekaterina Makarova 7–6(7), 6–1. She experienced more success in the doubles tournament with partner Kuznetsova, where as an unseeded pair, they reached the final, beating defending champions Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta in the process. Zvonareva and Kuznetsova defeated Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci 5–7, 6–4, 6–3 for the title. At the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open Zvonareva was upset by 18 years old Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco in her second round match. Zvonareva missed Roland Garros due to an ongoing hip injury. At Wimbledon 2012, she was forced to retire against Kim Clijsters due to breathing issues. At the Olympic tennis tournament in London, Zvonareva suffered the worst defeat of her entire playing career, losing 6–1, 6–0 to eventual Gold Medallist Serena Williams in the third round. Zvonareva had never previously scored lower than two games prior to the defeat against Williams.
Zvonareva withdrew from the 2012 US Open, due to the same illness which forced her to retire from her Wimbledon match against Kim Clijsters in June. Having not played any tournaments since August due to illness, she lost rankings points earnt from last year's US Open, Tokyo and Beijing tournaments, among others, and, as of 28 January 2013, has fallen to World No. 129. Zvonareva announced her withdrawal from the 2013 Australian Open, citing a shoulder injury.
