Former World No. 2 Vera Zvonareva returns to tennis at 41 with a win
NewsMonday, 01 December 2025 at 15:50
Former
World No. 2 Vera Zvonareva made her return to tennis on December 1, 2025, with a win
at the ITF W100 Dubai.
Zvonareva,
aged 41, played against Croatia’s Tara Wuerth on Monday and secured a win in
straight sets. She never announced her retirement publicly but hadn’t played on
the competitive circuit since May 2024.
The Russian
ousted Wuerth in an hour and 46 minutes. She suffered an early break of serve
in the fourth game of the opening set but quickly recovered by breaking back
immediately. She then converted two more break points to take the lead.
The following
set panned out in a similar fashion as Wuerth broke the veteran in the first
game, only to be broken back in the second.
The
eventual winner broke her opponent’s serve two more times to claim a 6-3, 6-4
win.
Zvonareva
began playing tennis professionally in the year 2000. She reached her peak
ranking of World No. 2 in October 2010. The same year, she reached the finals
of Wimbledon and the US Open, losing to defending champions Serena Williams and
Kim Clijsters, respectively.
On the WTA
Tour, she won 12 tournaments, including the WTA 1000 Indian Wells. She also
secured a bronze medal for Russia in women’s singles at the 2008 Beijing
Olympics.
The Russian
achieved greater success in doubles. She won the US Open in 2006 with Nathalie
Dechy and in 2020 with Elise Mertens. She also lifted the 2012 Australian Open trophy
with Svetlana Kuznetsova.
In mixed
doubles, she triumphed at Flushing Meadows with the legendary Bob Bryan in 2004
and conquered Wimbledon in 2006 after pairing up with Andy Ram. Her most recent
victory came at the 2023 WTA Finals in Cancun, where she joined forces with Laura
Siegemund to reign supreme.
Vera Zvonareva was denied entry into Poland in 2023
Vera
Zvonareva found herself in legal turmoil in July 2023 after she tried entering
Poland with a French visa to play the Warsaw Open.
The Polish
government marked Zvonareva “undesirable” amid the Russia-Ukraine war and
stopped her from entering the country after she landed at Warsaw Chopin Airport
on a flight from Belgrade, Serbia.
As per the
Interior Ministry of Poland, she flew to Podgorica, Montenegro, after being
held back in the transit zone.
"The Border Guard prevented a Russian tennis player from entering Poland. Vera Zvonareva, using a visa issued by France, tried to get into our country on a flight from Belgrade to Warsaw. After arriving from Serbia, the tennis player stayed in the transit zone of Warsaw Chopin Airport and today, after 12:00, she flew to Podgorica."- Interior Ministry of Poland
Poland has tightened entry restrictions for citizens of Russia and Belarus due to the conflict and players from these countries continue to play on the tour under a neutral flag.
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