The career of the 39-year-old Russian Vera Zvonareva is vaguely reminiscent of the career of the great Czech-American tennis player Martina Navratilova. But not in terms of the number of titles the legendary Martina won, but in terms of longevity and playing at a high level at an advanced age for tennis.
At the US Open in New York, Vera and her German partner Laura Siegemund, 35, reached the final of the next Grand Slam tournament. Navratilova won her last mixed doubles title at the US Open (along with Bob Bryan) in 2006, when she was already 50 years old (no one has broken Martina’s age record yet!). There is something to fight for.
By the way, the American Grand Slam tournament is Zvonareva’s favorite competition. He first competed in the main draw over twenty years ago. Eighteen-year-old Vera met in the third round of the 2002 US Open. Then the talented Russian reached the round of 16, where she lost to Belgian Kim Clijsters.
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Two years later, our girl got her first taste of victory on America’s premier hard court. Then, performing in a mix with Bob Bryan (this American was the key to the success of victories in mixed doubles), the pair did not leave any chance for their opponents in the group. A couple more years will pass and success will come to Zvonareva in her favorite doubles. Her duet with the Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy left no chance for any of the contestants in 2006. In the same year in which Navratilova achieved her last victory in mixed doubles.
In 2010, Vera was able to achieve, in card parlance, a sell-out at the US Open, when she reached the final in singles. But Kim Clijsters was once again on the path to her dream and in two sets she left no chance for the Russian (6-2, 6-1). Only 10 years later, with her current duet partner, Laura Siegemund, Vera knows the taste of another, but long-awaited, victory on the hard court of New York. In the final, the girls defeated the American-Chinese pair Nicole Melichar – Xu Yifan (6-4, 6-4). For Siegemund, this title was the first in her career.
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The two experienced tennis players formed an exemplary duo. In addition to winning the 2020 US Open, they managed to dominate the courts of Lyon and Miami in 2022, and in 2023 they brilliantly won the competition in Washington. And now at the US Open 2023, Vera and Laura are once again in the final of the tournament, while the Russian-German duo has a colossal advantage over the rest of the doubles. The girls’ game intelligence and sense of teamwork are noticeably superior to those of other competitors.
Birthday gift. Zvonareva advances to US Open doubles final
In the recent semi-final played on an American hard court, the Russian and German rivals were the American Jennifer Brady and the Brazilian Louise Stefani. At first it seemed like everything would go well and without problems for the girls. A pause at the beginning of the meeting raised hopes of a brief confrontation. However, on the opposite side of the court they resisted and managed to force the favorites to fight. But the rivals only lasted one set (6-4). In the second set, Zvonareva and Siegemund took the matter to its logical conclusion (6:1) and safely reached the final, where they will now have to test the Canadian-New Zealand pair Gabriela Dabrowski/Erin Routliffe. There is a suspicion that Vera Zvonareva could give herself a magnificent birthday gift (September 7) in the form of another success in New York.
