Former second racket of the world, two-time finalist of Grand Slam tournaments, Russian Vera Zvonareva continues her confident return to the professional tour! A year and a half after her previous singles match, Vera entered the ITF W100 tournament in Dubai and surprised with her excellent form.

The 41-year-old Russian woman beat Czech tennis player Tereza Martincova in the second round and reached the quarterfinals. With a game like this, you can even aim for the title!

The statistics were behind the opponent

Martintsova approached the match in a good rhythm of the game. In seven of the last 13 matches against opponents higher in the rankings, the Czech tennis player won. Zvonareva, on the contrary, had minimal competitive practice: before entering Martintsova, she managed to play two matches in Dubai, and before that she had not played for a year and a half. However, the quality of the game against Croatian Tara Wurth (6:3, 6:4) in the first round showed that Vera retained her form and was able to withstand a tight rhythm.

The only head-to-head match between the rivals took place in 2022 in St. Petersburg, when Teresa was stronger in three sets. However, it was useless to draw any conclusions based on that confrontation.

Martintsova took only three games

Zvonareva instantly imposed a high tempo on her opponent, powerfully returned the ball to her side and made a break in the first game. The Czech managed to respond with a reverse break, but this local success remained her only one in the set. From the third game, Zvonareva was in complete control of the rallies: she took her opponent’s serve three times in a row and reached the score 6:1. The draws often reached 30:30 and “exactly”, but Vera’s stability and experience allowed her to take key balls.

Vera Zvonareva / Photo: © Robert Prange / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

In the second set the picture remained almost unchanged. Zvonareva immediately created pressure and led 2:0. Vera constantly put pressure on her opponent, acted aggressively during the reception and forced the Czech woman to make mistakes. At the same time, Zvonareva herself reduced the number of inaccuracies to a minimum. With the score 4:2, the Russian made another breakthrough, won two games in a row and closed the match with a crushing score of 6:1, 6:2.

The match turned out to be one-sided: Zvonareva won six of eight games on Martintsova’s serve, did not allow her opponent to get caught in long rallies and acted much more accurately at decisive moments. Despite all the statistical arguments in favor of a possible fight, the game showed a colossal difference in the level of stability: Vera’s experience turned out to be a decisive factor.

Return after a break

Zvonareva’s results deserve special attention in the context of the fact that she has not won a single singles match since March 2024, and has not been on the court at all since May. The long absence led to her losing her rating. In fact, the tournament in Dubai became a new starting point for the former second racket of the world.

Former 20th racket of the world Dmitry Tursunov commented on Zvonareva’s return, noting that her results did not come as a surprise to him.

“Knowing Vera and her comeback, I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends the year in the top 150, or even higher,” Tursunov wrote on his page on social networks.

Vera Zvonareva / Photo: © Robert Prange / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

In the quarterfinals, Zvonareva’s opponent will be the winner of the match Sofia Lansere (Russia) – Mananchaya Savangkaev (Thailand). Tennis players differ both in skill level and style of play, but given Zvonareva’s current form, in any case, she will have an excellent chance of reaching the semifinals. And there are only two steps to the title!