The 21st century

Vera Zvonareva

Russia · born Moscow, 1984 · right-handed · Wimbledon mixed doubles champion 2006 with Andy Ram, singles finalist 2010

Vera Zvonareva
Hameltion, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

All players

2

Wimbledon finals on the same day in 2010, singles and doubles

2006

Wimbledon mixed champion with Andy Ram, and Birmingham singles champion

21

Her seeding when she reached the 2010 Wimbledon singles final

2

Career-high singles ranking, October 2010

2026

Bad Homburg doubles title with Aldila Sutjiadi, two decades after her first grass title

Playing career

Vera Zvonareva was born in Moscow on 7 September 1984. Her father Igor played bandy for Dynamo Moscow and her mother, Natalia Bykova, won a field hockey bronze medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and introduced her to tennis at six. She turned professional in 2000.

She won the US Open mixed with Bob Bryan in 2004, then in 2006 the US Open women's doubles with Nathalie Dechy, the Wimbledon mixed with Andy Ram and her first grass title in Birmingham. She took the bronze medal in singles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2010, seeded 21st, she reached the Wimbledon singles final and rose to No. 2 in the world that October. She added the Australian Open doubles in 2012 with Svetlana Kuznetsova and the US Open doubles in 2020 with Laura Siegemund.

Injuries interrupted her repeatedly: torn ankle ligaments in 2009, a shoulder operation that cost her the 2013 season, and a second shoulder operation in 2024 that kept her away for about 18 months. She returned in December 2025, and in June 2026, at 41, won the doubles at Bad Homburg with Aldila Sutjiadi.

On grass

Wimbledon 2010Singles: beat Jelena Janković, Kim Clijsters and Tsvetana Pironkova to reach the final, lost to Serena Williams 6-3, 6-2 in 67 minutes. Doubles: the same day, with Elena Vesnina, lost the final to Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova 7-6 (8-6), 6-2
Wimbledon mixed 2006Seeded ninth with Andy Ram; beat Bob Bryan and Venus Williams 6-3, 6-2 on Centre Court in 56 minutes
Birmingham 2006Ranked 63rd, beat Jamea Jackson 7-6 (12-10), 7-6 (7-5) in the final
Bad Homburg 2026With Aldila Sutjiadi beat the third seeds Ellen Perez and Demi Schuurs 6-1, 4-6, 10-5 in the final on 27 June 2026
Wimbledon 2026With Laura Siegemund reached the third round of the ladies' doubles

Every grass title: 3

Show every title, tournament by tournament
Wimbledon
2006 Mixed doubles with Andy Ram
Birmingham
2006 Women's singles
Bad Homburg
2026 Women's doubles with Aldila Sutjiadi

Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. † single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions

"Congratulations, you're a great player but also a great champion."

Zvonareva to Serena Williams in the on-court interview after the 2010 Wimbledon final, reported by the Mail & Guardian

Anecdotes

The person behind the player.

Moscow

An Olympic mother

Her mother, Natalia Bykova, won bronze with the Soviet field hockey team at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and brought her to tennis at six. Twenty-eight years later Vera won her own Olympic bronze, in Beijing.

Source: Wikipedia

Wimbledon, 2010

Two finals, one Saturday

On 3 July 2010 she lost the singles final to Serena Williams and then the doubles final with Elena Vesnina. In her first Grand Slam final she told Williams: "You showed great determination throughout the week and you deserved to win today."

Source: Mail & Guardian, 3 July 2010

New York, 2010

Moving on

Two months later she said: "For me, Wimbledon is already in the past." She called her run "a great run. I was able to play seven matches in a row."

Source: Inside Tennis, 2 September 2010

Bad Homburg, 2026

Chemistry

Her partner Aldila Sutjiadi, winning her first WTA 500 title, said: "My chemistry with Vera improved in every match."

Source: RRI, June 2026

Explore

Where they won on grass

Elsewhere online

All players

Sources

Page updated 4 November 2026. Spotted an error? Send a correction.

Scroll to Top