She’s a former World No. 2 and three-time Grand Slam champ who returned at 41 and won her first match back

In May 2024, Vera Zvonareva played her last match at the WTA level. At the time, she was 39 and maintaining good physical shape, but she had decided to step away from the sport to dedicate time to her family and also to teach tennis lessons in Dubai, the country where she resides.

Zvonareva’s final appearance on a tennis court was at Roland Garros 2024, where she reached the doubles quarterfinals alongside Mirra Andreeva. In the singles discipline, her most recent participation was in the WTA 500 in Strasbourg in 2024, where she did not advance past the qualifying round.

However, ahead of the ITF W100 in Dubai, Vera Zvonareva decided to come out of retirement. In her first match back, she emerged victorious, defeating Tara Wurth, a 23-year-old player who occupies the 238th position in the WTA rankings, in straight sets (6-3, 6-4).

“It was a tough match, and that’s to be expected against these younger players. Without a doubt, my experience was key, but in the end, I had to play and win in a quite physical match… For someone my age, you always have to live one day at a time, and that is exactly my mentality for this week,” the tennis player declared, as reported by the Khaleej Times.

The illustrious career of Zvonareva

The Moscow native joined the WTA circuit in 2000 and quickly achieved great results. By 2003, she had won the first of her 27 career singles titles. In singles, she was a Grand Slam finalist on two occasions, both in 2010, which was her best year.

She lost both finals: the first was at Wimbledon to Serena Williams, and the second was at the US Open against Kim Clijsters. In that memorable 2010 season, she climbed as high as World No. 2. A notable achievement is that she was an Olympic medalist at Beijing 2008, where she won the Bronze.

In doubles, she had an extraordinary career that spanned from 2000 to 2024. She was a Grand Slam champion on three occasions: the first was at the US Open 2006 alongside France’s Nathalie Dechy, the second at the Australian Open 2012 partnered with Svetlana Kuznetsova, and the third at the US Open 2020 with Laura Siegemund.