Elena Vesnina

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elena Vesnina
Елена Веснина
Vesnina RG18 (8) (42929306032).jpg
Vesnina at the 2018 French Open
Full nameElena Sergeyevna Vesnina
Country (sports) Russia
ResidenceSochi, Russia
Born (1986-08-01) 1 August 1986 (age 35)
Lviv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro2002
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CoachEugenia Maniokova
Prize moneyUS$ 12,572,154
Singles
Career record416–338 (55.2%)
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 13 (20 March 2017)
Current rankingNo. 304 (12 July 2021)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open4R (2006, 2013)
French Open3R (2015, 2017, 2021)
WimbledonSF (2016)
US Open3R (2009, 2014, 2016, 2017)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games2R (2020)
Doubles
Career record427–224 (65.6%)
Career titles18
Highest rankingNo. 1 (11 June 2018)
Current rankingNo. 55 (12 July 2021)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian OpenF (2014, 2018)
French OpenW (2013)
WimbledonW (2017)
US OpenW (2014)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour FinalsW (2016)
Olympic GamesGold medal olympic.svg (2016)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian OpenW (2016)
French OpenF (2021)
WimbledonF (2011, 2012)
US OpenSF (2011)
Other mixed doubles tournaments
Olympic GamesSilver medal olympic.svg (2020)
Team competitions
Fed CupW (2007, 2008)
Record 14–8 (63.6%)
hide
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo Mixed doubles
Universiade
Gold medal – first place 2013 Kazan Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2013 Kazan Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 2013 Kazan
Last updated on: 19 April 2021.

Elena Sergeyevna Vesnina [note 1] (born 1 August 1986) is a Ukrainian-born Russian professional tennis player. She is a four-time Grand Slam champion in doubles competition, having won the 2013 French Open, 2014 US Open, and 2017 Wimbledon tournaments with Ekaterina Makarova, and the 2016 Australian Open mixed-doubles title with Bruno Soares. In June 2018, Vesnina was number one in women's doubles. Her career-high singles ranking is 13, achieved in March 2017.

Vesnina debuted in the main draw of a WTA tournament at Quebec. One of her best seasons was in 2009, reaching her first WTA final and attaining a ranking of 24 in the year end. She repeated her success in 2013, reaching her best for a long period ranking of 21 on 22 July. Then she won her first WTA titles in Hobart and Eastbourne. After falling out of the top 100 in October 2014, Vesnina experienced an upturn in fortunes in 2016, making her first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon.[1] She continued her good form into 2017 and won the biggest singles title of her career to date at Indian Wells, claiming her first Premier Mandatory level title.

Vesnina has been consistently one of the highest ranked doubles players during her career, ending every season since 2008 ranked within the top 30, and every season since 2011 in the top ten. In May 2012, she entered a regular partnership with Ekaterina Makarova, becoming one of the leading teams on tour. They won twelve titles together, including three Grand Slam titles, the 2016 WTA Finals, as well as Olympic gold at Rio. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, she won the silver medal with Aslan Karatsev in mixed doubles.[2][3]

Personal life[]

Vesnina was born to Sergey and teacher Irina. She has a younger brother, Dmitry, a former junior tennis player.[4] She started playing tennis aged seven in the sports school in Sochi.[5]

In November 2015, Vesnina married businessman Pavel Tabuntsov.[6]

Career[]

2002–2003[]

In October 2002, aged 16 years and two months, Vesnina gained direct entry into the qualifying draw for her first $10k tournament at Giza, Egypt and succeeded in qualifying for the main draw before losing a close three-set match. The next week, again qualifying at Al-Mansoura to enter the main draw, where she won two further matches in straight sets, beating Hana Šromová of the Czech Republic in the second round, to reach her first $10k quarterfinal in just her second event played. However, she defaulted her quarterfinal tie to her opponent.

In 2003, Vesnina began the year entering two successive ITF events in India, at Chennai and Bangalore, and not only succeeded in qualifying both times, but also reached her first semifinal and another quarterfinal in the main draws, losing to Akgul Amanmuradova at the quarterfinal stage at Bangalore. These results gave Vesnina her first ranking at world No. 750, enough to gain direct entry to her next $10k draw at Istanbul, where she beat her personal best result in reaching the final. The following week, at Antalya, she was knocked out in the first round by her then-compatriot Evgenia Linetskaya; and in May she met with mixed results in Lviv, Ukraine and Warsaw, Poland; but in June, she won the $10k event at Balashikha, without dropping a set.

After taking her career-first ITF title, Vesnina competed in Bucharest losing to Raluca Sandu in the second round. She stayed there to compete at Bucharest, where she made it through the finals losing to German Antonela Voina in two tight sets. She then competed in Zhukovsky, Russia as a qualifier and succeeded, then won through all the way to the semifinal of the main draw with a tight three-set quarterfinal victory over compatriot Ekaterina Bychkova en route, but was stopped in straight sets in the semifinals by Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine.

In the middle of September, Vesnina qualified for her second straight $25k tournament at Tbilisi, Georgia, and this time won the title, recording victories over Evgenia Linetskaya, Olga Barabanschikova, and Mariya Koryttseva, in the quarterfinal, semifinal and final respectively. She then failed to qualify, trying to get to for first main-draw appearance at the WTA Tour in her next two events in Moscow and Tashkent. She finished the year ranked No. 279.

2004–2005[]

Vesnina began the year with a second-round exit at the ITF event in Bergamo. She then failed to qualify for the ITF Ortisei, exiting at the first round of the qualifying draw. She also lost in first qualifying round of 2004 Hyderabad Open to an unranked Barbara Schwartz. At ITF St. Petersburg, it was however a different scenario as she got past the qualifying round and then defeated compatriot Anastasia Rodionova in the first round proper on her way to a quarterfinal finish, where she was defeated by Ivana Lisjak of Croatia.

Vesnina next played in June at Marseille, falling at the last round of the qualifying draw she was granted a lucky loser before bowing out to No. 1 seed and then world No. 70, Ľubomíra Kurhajcová, in straight sets despite taking the second to a close tie-break. She then made early exits in Gorizia and Vittel. Following this disappointing performance she reached two ITF quarterfinals in a row, in Moscow losing to Maria Kondratieva, and in Balashikha losing to Anastasiya Yakimova. In late September, as a direct main-draw entrant into the $50k tournament at Batumi, Georgia, she also reached the quarterfinals, where she lost to No. 1 seed, Anna Chakvetadze.

In her next events, Vesnina tried to qualify for a WTA event Kremlin Cup but was knocked out at the second hurdle by world No. 61, Claudine Schaul, in a topsy-turvy match, and in the Bell Challenge where she succeeded for the first time in winning through qualifying into a WTA Tour main draw but lost in the first round of the main draw to Mariana Díaz Oliva.

Vesnina then qualified in Opole, Poland, but lost to Hana Šromová in the second-round in three sets. She ended the year by reaching the quarterfinal at Bergamo, losing to Estonian star Maret Ani in a very close three-setter. Vesnina ended the year ranked No. 286.

She started 2005 attempting to make headway in WTA Tour main draws and next entered the qualifying round of the Cellular South Cup but lost in straight sets to Varvara Lepchenko. The following week, she lost to Tatsiana Uvarova in the second qualifying round of an ITF tournament at St. Paul, Minnesota. Extending her bad start, she made a first-round exit at the ITF St. Petersburg; she then qualified at Civitavecchia, reaching the semifinals before losing to Maret Ani in three sets. In May, she entered qualifying for the Tier II event at Warsaw, and avenged her previous defeat by Adriana Barna, knocking her out but then fell again to Anna Chakvetadze in the second round.

A couple of weeks later, Vesnina suffered a disappointing first-round loss to Olivia Sanchez of France in the first round of a $25k event at Antalya. The following week she bounced back to qualify for her second career WTA Tour main draw at İstanbul Cup losing to Mashona Washington, in the second round. This was her first WTA Tour win. Returning in June she reached the final of an event at Galatina, Italy, without dropping a set, defeating higher-ranked Tatiana Poutchek on the way, before losing the title to Mariya Koryttseva. At her next two ITF tournaments in early July, she failed to qualify in Fano while losing in three sets to similarly ranked compatriot Lioudmila Skavronskaia in the first round in Cuneo, Italy. But later that month, she succeeded in qualifying for her third career WTA Tour main draw at the Internazionali di Modena, in the first round she cruised past a low-ranked special entrant from Maja Matevžič before being ousted by world No. 28, Flavia Pennetta, in second round.

The very next week, Vesnina won through qualifying into a WTA Tour main draw for the fourth time at Palermo but lost Maret Ani in the first round. In her next three events, she failed to qualify for the main draw of the WTA events at the Nordic Light Open losing to Emma Laine in the third round of the qualifying draw, in the Rogers Cup where she first thrashed Swiss perennial and world No. 110, Emmanuelle Gagliardi, but then was ousted by world No. 93, Rika Fujiwara, in three sets, and in the US Open to Marina Erakovic in the second round of the qualifying draw. She then reached the semifinals in Denain, France, losing to Arantxa Parra Santonja, and in Bordeaux losing to Stéphanie Foretz. Vesnina attained direct entry to a main draw for the first time in her career in October at the Tashkent Open, where she reached her first quarterfinals losing to Akgul Amanmuradova. She then failed to qualify at the Kremlin Cup losing to Alona Bondarenko. In the Generali Ladies Linz, she came through the qualifying round before losing to Tamira Paszek.

In November at the Bell Challenge, Vesnina reached her second quarterfinal losing to 75th-ranked Swede Sofia Arvidsson. In the next two weeks, she came unstuck in early rounds of ITF events, losing to Emma Laine in the first round at Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and to Kaia Kanepi in the second round at Deauville, France. She ended the year with a semifinal appearance at Poitiers in the final week of November and her last tournament, losing to Viktoriya Kutuzova (en route she beat Marion Bartoli and world No. 96, Stéphanie Foretz). She ended the year ranked No. 111.

2006[]

Beginning the new season at the Brisbane International, Vesnina was narrowly defeated by Puerto Rican world No. 157, Vilmarie Castellvi, in three sets in the first round of the qualifying draw for the Tier III event at Gold Coast, and then she was beaten by Nuria Llagostera Vives in the first round of the Hobart International the following week.

Being ranked No. 100, she was awarded direct entry into her first ever Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open, and reached the fourth round with defeats of qualifiers Li Ting, Julia Schruff and Olga Savchuk before losing to world No. 7, Nadia Petrova. She next competed at the Bangalore Open and Indian Wells Masters but lost in the first rounds of both contests, losing to Australian world No. 127, Nicole Pratt, at Bangalore and to world No. 86, Viktoriya Kutuzova, at Indian Wells. However, she reached the third round at Miami and Amelia Island losing to Tatiana Golovin and Virginia Ruano Pascual, respectively.

The week after, playing at Family Circle Cup, Vesnina again came out the loser in a three-setter, this time against experienced fellow-Russian Vera Zvonareva, who took the match. In May, retreating to a lower-level Tier-IV event at Estoril, Portugal, she encountered Flavia Pennetta, the first seed in the draw, in the first round; and this time the Italian wrought her revenge in the third set tie-break of a very evenly tied match that ran. At the Berlin Open, she lost to Czech Květa Peschke in the first round.

At the Internationaux de Strasbourg, Vesnina encountered fierce resistance in the first round from upcoming Italian world No. 249, Karin Knapp, but finally defeated her to book her place in the second round, where she made light work of world No. 27, Marion Bartoli, for the second time in her career, this time dismissing her. In the quarterfinals, clay-court expert and world No. 28, Anabel Medina Garrigues, had the better of their joust, taking it. At the French Open, she lost to Peng Shuai in the first round.

Vesnina entered the grass-court circuit in Birmingham and 's-Hertogenbosch, and both reaching the second round losing to world No. 39, Mara Santangelo, and world No. 8, Elena Dementieva, respectively. In July, entering Wimbledon Championships ranked No. 63, she recovered from a set down to fend off world No. 75, María Sánchez Lorenzo, in the first round, and then second round she lost compatriot Anna Chakvetadze in a close three-setter.

At the Carlsbad Open and LA Tennis Championships, Vesnina reached the second round of both events, losing to Emma Laine and Meghann Shaughnessy, respectively. At the qualifying round of the Rogers Cup she was upset by Neha Uberoi of the United States in the first round. The following week at Forest Hills Classic, she lost to Shaughnessy at the quarterfinal stage. In September, in her first appearance at the US Open, she lost to world No. 14, Mary Pierce, in the first round.

At the China Open, in the first round, Vesnina at last wreaked revenge upon Emma Laine after a lengthy struggle, but then in the second she fell in three sets to world No. 23, Li Na. A string of three further moderate second-round finishes in successive weeks followed in the earlier part of October in Guangzhou International Open losing to veteran Israeli Tzipora Obziler, in Tashkent Open losing to Kateryna Bondarenko, in Kremlin Cup losing to Amélie Mauresmo.

After qualifying for the Generali Ladies Linz, Vesnina got past the first round of the main draw against world No. 16, Daniela Hantuchová, after the Slovak retired. World No. 12, Jelena Janković, awaited her in round two, and after Vesnina won the first set on a tie-break, it was Janković who emerged victorious in three sets. In her last tournament at Gaz de France Stars she retired against Kirsten Flipkens. Vesnina finished the year still ranked 44th in the world, up 67 places year-on-year.

2007[]

In her first tournament of the year at the MAW Hardcourts, Vesnina reached the quarterfinals losing to Italian Tathiana Garbin. The following week, at the Hobart International, she lost to Anabel Medina Garrigues in the first round. At the Australian Open she avenged that loss in the first round, but lost in the second to Maria Elena Camerin, in a very close three-set match. Following the Australian Open then proceeded to suffer a string of disappointing first round exits over the remainder of the winter season, including at the Pan Pacific Open and at Dubai, losing seven straight matches in a row. Her losing streak ended in the hands of Urszula Radwańska in the first round of the J&S Cup, but lost in the next to Jelena Janković. At the German Open a week later, she suffered a heavy loss by 65th-ranked Spaniard Lourdes Domínguez Lino at the first round.

In her next main-draw appearance, Vesnina reached the quarterfinals at the Internationaux de Strasbourg she lost to Marion Bartoli for the first time in three meetings. At the French Open, she was drawn against No. 1 seed and eventual champion Justine Henin of Belgium in the first round, and lost in two relatively close sets. The following week, at the Ordina Open, she got through as a qualifier but lost in the second round to Angelique Kerber. Entering Wimbledon Championships world-ranked 67th in July, she enjoyed a strong start with successive comfortable straight-sets wins over fellow-Russian world No. 32, Olga Puchkova, in the first round and world No. 43, Émilie Loit, in the second, before losing once again to top-seed and eventual semifinalist Justine Henin, in the third round. Following Wimbledon she competed at the Cincinnati Open where she reached the quarterfinals losing to eventual champion and compatriot Anna Chakvetadze, until retiring.

At the Nordic Light Open, Vesnina defeated Swedish world No. 109, Sofia Arvidsson, in straight sets in the first round, but then lost to fast-rising teenager Caroline Wozniacki, in the second. She then competed in the last tournament before the US Open at the Forest Hills Classic, after receiving a first-round bye, she began well with straight-sets victories over world No. 68, Séverine Brémond, and Japanese world No. 52, Aiko Nakamura, to reach her career-first WTA-level semifinal, but then lost to Virginie Razzano. Entering the US Open, Vesnina was drawn to play world No. 89 Jelena Kostanić in the first round, but lost to her in straight sets.

The following week, representing Russia in the 2007 Fed Cup final against Italy, Vesnina avenged her straight sets defeat by Mara Santangelo in their only previous meeting, by outplaying world No. 34 to win in straight sets herself this time around. Towards the end of the month, the Russian could reach only the second round of the Slovenia Open before she succumbed to Gisela Dulko.

Returning to the Tashkent Open in October ranked 61st in the world, Vesnina exceeded her performance of the previous year by reaching the semifinals with successive victories over Alberta Brianti, Tatiana Poutchek, and Romanian youngster Ioana Raluca Olaru, but at this stage, she lost Belarusian teenager Victoria Azarenka. At the Kremlin Cup, she lost once again to Czech world No. 13, Nicole Vaidišová, in the second round. At her last two tournaments of the year were the Zurich Open and Linz Open she failed to qualify, losing to American Meilen Tu and German Sandra Klösel. She ended the year at No. 54, ten spots lower than the previous year.

2008[]

Back in Australia for the beginning of the new season early in January, Vesnina suffered a poor start with a three-set loss in the first round at Gold Coast to an Australian wild card then ranked just 158th in the world, Monique Adamczak. Having failed to defend the points accrued from her quarterfinal finish at Gold Coast a year previously, she found her ranking slipping to 60th. But she mostly made up for it by reaching the quarterfinals at Hobart the following week with back-to-back straight-sets wins over world No. 48, Akiko Morigami, and Nuria Llagostera Vives. But her quarterfinal opponent, world No. 23 Vera Zvonareva, had the better of her.

Entering the Australian Open for the third year running, now ranked 55th, Vesnina enjoyed a marginally more successful run than she had done in 2007, in reaching the third round with successive wins over world No. 31, Julia Vakulenko, and world No. 98, Jill Craybas. However, there was no stopping eventual champion Maria Sharapova in the third round. Vesnina emerged from the tournament ranked No. 52. With only 16 ranking points for her to defend between February and April inclusive out of 549 to her credit, she was presented with a strong theoretical opportunity to return to or exceed her pre-existing career-high WTA world ranking of 41st by the beginning of May.

However, Vesnina's challenge began disappointingly for her at Doha in mid-February with a first-round main-draw loss in straight sets to world No. 134, Ayumi Morita. Then at the Tier II tournament at Dubai, she was forced to go through the qualifying tournament, where she was defeated in the second round on the final-set tie-break of a very close three-set match by Zheng Jie, whose then-current ranking of world No. 226 reflected her recent absence from the tour resulting from injury. The sum total of the ranking points earned by the Russian in February was just six.

Returning to action in mid-March at the Tier I fixture taking place at Indian Wells, Vesnina could manage only the second round of the main draw after defeating world No. 98, Hsieh Su-wei, in a close three-set match in the first, as world No. 10, Marion Bartoli, vanquished her, leveling up their career head-to-head at two matches all.

Vesnina at the 2008 US Open

Arriving at Miami at the end of March ranked 53rd, Vesnina finally achieved a measure of success for the first time in two months, reaching the fourth round with wins over Elena Likhovtseva, world No. 18 Ágnes Szávay, and improved world No. 60, Ashley Harkleroad, before succumbing to world No. 1, Justine Henin. The 70 ranking points she earned from this performance lifted her comfortably within the top 50 again at No. 45, with 638 ranking points, but still left her some 50 points adrift of the current standard required to match her previous best ranking of 41st.

At the Tier-II Amelia Island in early April, Vesnina reached the third round after defeating Venezuelan star Milagros Sequera and world No. 12, Patty Schnyder. But then she lost to much-improved world No. 49, Alizé Cornet. As a result, she achieved a net gain of just 25 ranking points to 663, and only one ranking place.

2009: First Grand Slam doubles final[]

Vesnina participated in the ASB Classic in Auckland in January. It was here that she advanced to her first final on the 2009 WTA Tour, upsetting the tournament's sixth-seed Nicole Vaidišová in the second round and the second seed Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals along the way. She then prevailed in a marathon semifinal against British No. 1, Anne Keothavong, with a score of to set up a meeting with fellow-Russian and tournament top seed Elena Dementieva. She started strongly in the match with a 3–1 lead but eventually lost to Dementieva.

Vesnina participated in the Australian Open but lost in the first round to Julie Coin. At Dubai, where she was a qualifier, Vesnina made it to the quarterfinals defeating Chinese player Li Na in the first round and achieving her first win over a top-10 player by defeating seventh-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova. In the third round, she defeated 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulková, who retired after Vesnina was leading. In the quarterfinals, her series of upsets ended when she lost to 16th-seeded Kaia Kanepi.

At her next tournament, the Indian Wells Open, Vesnina defeated Sabine Lisicki in the first round and 32nd-seeded Sorana Cîrstea in the second round. In the third round, she lost to eighth seed Victoria Azarenka. Vesnina started her 2009 clay-court season in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. She upset sixth-seeded Peng Shuai in the first round, and the third-seed Dominika Cibulková in the quarterfinals. She lost to second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals after having four match points in the third set. She then reached the quarterfinals of the Tier I Family Circle Cup before losing to Sabine Lisicki while battling a leg strain.

Vesnina at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships

At her next tournament, the Rome Masters, she reached the second round by defeating Jill Craybas but lost to Zheng Jie. She then reached the third round of the Madrid Open and lost to Jelena Janković. She lost to Ágnes Szávay in the second round of the French Open, the first time she'd reached the second round there. She did however reach her first Grand Slam final in the doubles at the French Open partnering Victoria Azarenka. The pair were seeded 12th but lost in the final to the third seeds and defending champions Virginia Ruano Pascual and Anabel Medina Garrigues.

At the Wimbledon Championships, Vesnina defeated Yanina Wickmayer in the first round and Vera Dushevina in the second. She then caused a big upset over No. 14, Dominika Cibulková, in the third round. Vesnina won the first set and had a trainer come at the end of the second. She fell behind in the third, but rallied back. Vesnina then fell to No. 4, Elena Dementieva, in the fourth round.

At her first event of the US Open Series, in the LA Championships, Vesnina fell to Zheng Jie in the second round, it was followed by first-round loses in the Rogers Cup to Anna Chakvetadze and in the Western & Southern Open to Zheng Jie. At the Pilot Pen Tennis, she upset two top-20 players – a fast-rising Samantha Stosur in the second round, and Amélie Mauresmo in the semifinals. She, however, lost to Caroline Wozniacki in her second WTA final and her first in a Premier-event.

Vesnina was seeded 31st at the US Open and it was the first time that she had been seeded at a Grand Slam event. She faced Lucie Hradecká in the first round where she came through. In the second round she defeated Jill Craybas to advance to third round at the US Open for the first time. There she faced fellow Russian and her former doubles partner Vera Zvonareva where she fell.

Vesnina next played at the Pan Pacific Open where she was unseeded in singles. She beat María José Martínez Sánchez in the first round and Roberta Vinci in the second but she had to retire in her third-round match against the seventh seed Jelena Janković due to a left thigh strain while trailing. She then played at the China Open but she lost in the first round to Melinda Czink. Vesnina then played at the Kremlin Cup where she was seeded sixth. She suffered a surprise first-round defeat by compatriot Evgeniya Rodina.

Vesnina finished the year with a 34–21 singles record and ranked world No. 24.

2010[]

Elena Vesnina at the 2010 US Open

Her first tournament of the year was the Auckland Open where she was seeded No. 6. After beating Alberta Brianti in the first, she was defeated in the second round by Alizé Cornet. She made the quarterfinals in doubles, partnering Riza Zalameda, but lost to Vladimíra Uhlířová and Renata Voráčová. At the Sydney International, she faced No. 7 Vera Zvonareva in the first round, but at 3–3 Zvonareva retired due to a right ankle injury. In the second round, she was defeated by Vera Dushevina.

Seeded No. 28 at the Australian Open, Vesnina was defeated in the first round by Tathiana Garbin. In the doubles, she partnered with Zheng Jie, seeded No. 9, they beat Alizé Cornet and Sharon Fichman in the first round in two sets and in the second, they won in a walkover. In the third round, they lost to the eighth-seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Yan Zi. Vesnina also entered mixed doubles with Andy Ram as the No. 8 seeds. In the first round, they defeated Alicia Molik and Matthew Ebden, and in the second Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Christopher Kas but then fell to the top-seeded Cara Black and Leander Paes in the quarterfinals. Her next tournament was the Open GdF Suez where she was knocked out in the second round again by Tathiana Garbin.

At the Dubai Championships, Vesnina fell in three sets to world No. 14, Vera Zvonareva, in the first round. At the MPS Group Championships, she made it to the semifinals losing to world No. 2, Caroline Wozniacki, after serving for the match. She then lost seven consecutive matches, falling in the third round of Family Circle Cup and the first rounds of Italian Open, Madrid Open, Internationaux de Strasbourg, French Open, UNICEF Open, and Wimbledon.

At Wimbledon, Vesnina made it to her second Grand Slam final in doubles while partnering Vera Zvonareva. The pair scored some impressive wins over the top-seeded Williams sisters in the quarterfinals (which ended the Americans 27 match-winning streak in Grand Slam doubles matches) and over fourth-seeds Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta in the semifinals. In the final, they fell to fellow unseeded pairing Yaroslava Shvedova and Vania King.

Vesnina was able to break her seven match losing-streak at the İstanbul Cup defeating Bojana Jovanovski, Stefanie Vögele and Anastasia Rodionova in straight sets. She then upset sixth seed Andrea Petkovic recovering from a break down to reach the finals. In the final where she faced fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Vesnina went down despite having led 4–0 in the second set and been a break up at 3–1 in the final set.

Vesnina then played in the Western & Southern Open, where in the second round she defeated French Open champion Francesca Schiavone. She lost to Ana Ivanovic in the third round. She then needed to qualify in the Pilot Pen Tennis, which she did but lost to Maria Kirilenko in the first round. She also fell to fifth seed Sam Stosur in the first round of the US Open.

Vesnina next participated in the Tashkent Open where she beat Lesia Tsurenko and Olga Savchuk to reach the quarterfinals and demolished Darya Kustova. In the semifinals, she defeated Monica Niculescu despite being down 3–0 in the third set, Elena won six of the last seven games. She lost to Alla Kudryavtseva in the final. Vesnina scored the biggest win of her career two weeks later at the China Open by defeating 12th seed Maria Sharapova. However, she lost to Timea Bacsinszky in the next round.

2011[]

Vesnina at the 2011 Family Circle Cup

Vesnina was seeded seventh at the Auckland Open where she easily outclassed Marina Erakovic in her first match of the year. In the next round against Simona Halep, she also started well leading; however she lost the second set and retired due to dizziness. At the Hobart International, she defeated Arantxa Parra Santonja in the first round but lost to top-seed Marion Bartoli.

In the first round of the Australian Open, Vesnina lost to Virginie Razzano. She then also fell in the first rounds of Open GdF Suez, Dubai Championships, and Indian Wells Open and the qualifying round in Qatar Open. At the Sony Ericsson Open she defeated higher-ranked players Gisela Dulko and 23rd seed Yanina Wickmayer, but lost to Anabel Medina Garrigues in the third round. At the Family Circle Cup, Vesnina defeated Rebecca Marino in the first round and then knocked out four consecutive seeds No. 14 seed Bethanie Mattek-Sands, second seed and defending champion Sam Stosur, 12th seed Julia Görges and 11th seed Peng Shuai. Vesnina became runner-up at the Family Circle Cup by losing to Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets.

In doubles, Vesnina along with Sania Mirza won the finals at Indian Wells by defeating Mattek-Sands and Shaughnessy. Then the pair won their second title of the year at the Family Circle Cup by defeating Mattek-Sands and Shaughnessy again. Their partnership continued to gain momentum after the team reached the final of Roland Garros before falling to Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká. They also reached the semifinals of Wimbledon before falling to eventual champions and second seeds Květa Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik.

2012: Partnership with Makarova[]

Together with Leander Paes, Vesnina reached the Australian Open and the Wimbledon mixed-doubles final.[7]

At the Family Circle Cup, Vesnina won her first-round match. In the second round, she lost to Serena Williams and was unable to defend her runner-up points from the previous year. She reached the doubles finals of the Dubai Open and Indian Wells with Sania Mirza. At the Australian Open, the pair reached the semifinals.

Vesnina paired with Ekaterina Makarova in Madrid and Rome, and reached the finals in both tournaments. The pair were defeated in the quarterfinals of the French Open. At Wimbledon and the London Olympics, she continued pairing with Makarova in doubles, and the pair were defeated in the quarterfinals in both tournaments. At the US Open, they were defeated in the third round. In Beijing, the pair were victorious in the final against Mirza and Llagostera Vives.

Vesnina in the first round of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships

2013: Two WTA singles titles, Grand Slam doubles champion[]

At the start of 2013, Vesnina claimed her first WTA Tour title by beating defending champion Mona Barthel in the final of the Hobart International.[8] At the Australian Open, she reached the fourth round, saving a match point against 16th seed Roberta Vinci in the third round en route. She was eventually defeated by the defending champion Victoria Azarenka.[9] She and Makarova then reached the doubles semifinal, losing to world No. 1 pairing Errani/Vinci.

Vesnina won her second Premier Mandatory doubles title with Makarova at the Indian Wells Open, beating third seeds Petrova/Srebotnik in the final. Vesnina won her first Grand Slam title at the French Open, capturing the doubles title alongside Makarova, beating Errani/Vinci in the final, after beating No. 2 seeds Hlaváčková/Hradecká.

Vesnina won her second WTA title at the Aegon International in Eastbourne. En route to the final, she defeated Ana Ivanovic in the first round and Heather Watson in the second. She then went on to beat second seed Li Na in the quarterfinals and Yanina Wickmayer in the semifinals. In the final, she easily dispatched Jamie Hampton to win her first grass-tour event.

Vesnina and Makarova qualified for the WTA Tour Championships, after finishing in the top 8 of the rankings for teams. They beat Errani/Vinci for the second time in a row in the semifinals, but lost to Wimbledon champions Hsieh Su-wei/Peng Shuai.

Finishing 25th at the end of the season, Vesnina qualified for the WTA Tournament of Champions held in Sofia, Bulgaria. Despite winning two matches and losing one in the round-robin, Vesnina finished third in the group, behind Samantha Stosur and Ana Ivanovic. This result meant that she failed to progress to the semifinals.

Vesnina finished 2013 with a 31–21 record, winning two titles and finishing at No. 25. For doubles, she had a 33–12 record and also won two titles. She finished fifth in the rankings.

2014: Second Grand Slam doubles title[]

Vesnina at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships

Vesnina failed to defend her title at the Hobart International, losing to qualifier Estrella Cabeza Candela in the second round. Also, at the Australian Open, Vesnina failed to defend fourth-round points, losing to Alison Riske in the first round. However, she reached the final of the doubles competition with Makarova, losing to Errani/Vinci 5–7 in the final set.

Vesnina/Makarova then suffered a shock loss at the hands of Noppawan Lertcheewakarn/Vera Zvonareva in the Pattaya Open. They then suffered two quarterfinal losses in Dubai and Indian Wells, losing to Kudryavtseva/Rodionova and Black/Mirza. They reached the final of the Miami Open, losing to Martina Hingis/Sabine Lisicki. Vesnina/Makarova failed to defend their title at the French Open, losing to French wildcards Julie Coin/Pauline Parmentier in the second round. Vesnina reached her first semifinal of the year at the Portugal Open, beating Roberta Vinci in the process. As the defending champion at the Aegon International, she fell in the second round to eventual champion Madison Keys.

As a lucky loser in the Rogers Cup, Vesnina lost in the second round to doubles partner Makarova in straight sets. Vesnina and Makarova won their second major title at the US Open, not playing any seeded teams throughout the whole competition. At the WTA Finals, Vesnina/Makarova lost in the quarterfinal to Kudryavtseva/Rodionova.

Vesnina finished the season with an 18–20 record in singles, with a ranking of 65. For doubles, Vesnina had a record of 24–14 and won one title, which is the US Open. She was No. 7 in doubles in the year-end rankings.

2015[]

Vesnina and Makarova reached the Wimbledon final where they lost to longtime-rivals Hingis/Mirza.

2016: Resurgence in singles, Wimbledon semis; Olympic and WTA Finals doubles champion[]

Vesnina at Wimbledon

Vesnina started the year by playing at the Brisbane International as the seventh seed for qualifying, and she qualified for the main draw by beating Australian wildcard Tammi Patterson, Mathilde Johansson and Ysaline Bonaventure. In the first round, Vesnina lost to former world No. 1 and eventual champion, Victoria Azarenka, in two sets. In doubles, she and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova were the third seeds, and they reached the quarterfinals where they lost to Medina Garrigues and Parra Santonja in a third set super-tiebreak.

Vesnina failed to reach the main draw of the Australian Open, losing in the first round of qualifying. It marked the time in decade she had failed to qualify for the main draw in a Grand Slam event, her singles ranking dropping to No. 122 in the world. In doubles she and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova were seeded fifth and reached the quarterfinals where they lost to Alla Kudryavtseva and Vania King. In mixed doubles, Vesnina and partner Bruno Soares were also seeded fifth. They reached the final where they defeated CoCo Vandeweghe and Horia Tecău, which marked her first mixed-doubles Grand Slam title.[10]

At the inaugural St. Petersburg Trophy, Vesnina received a wildcard for the singles draw and lost in the second round to qualifier Kateryna Kozlova in three sets. She reached the quarterfinals of the doubles draw with Daria Kasatkina, but lost to world No. 1 pairing Hingis/Mirza.

Vesnina then participated in the Qatar Open, where she qualified for the main draw after beating Ons Jabeur and Naomi Broady. She faced Caroline Garcia in the first round, and caused an upset by winning in straight sets. Vesnina then created an even bigger upset by achieving her first top-2 win of her career against Simona Halep in three sets, despite being down 6–7, 1–4. She then caused her third straight upset against former world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki, once again in three sets. However, her run ended in the quarterfinals after being defeated by eventual champion Carla Suárez Navarro in two tight sets. Nevertheless, this was her best showing at a Premier-5 tournament. In the doubles competition, Vesnina and partner Kasatkina caused a major upset when they ended world No. 1 pairing Hingis/Mirza's 41 match winning streak in the quarterfinals, despite losing the first set 2–6. However, despite winning the first set 6–3 against world No. 2 pairing Chan Hao-ching/Chan Yung-jan, they lost in three sets.

At the Indian Wells Open, Vesnina fell in the first round of the qualifying to American wildcard Julia Boserup. In doubles, Vesnina once again partnered Daria Kasatkina but lost in the second round in three sets, despite winning the first set 6–1, to eventual finalists Julia Görges/Karolína Plíšková. In the Miami Open, Vesnina managed to get past qualifying after beating Kateryna Kozlova, avenging her loss in St. Petersburg, and Tsvetana Pironkova. She was drawn to face fellow qualifier Jana Čepelová in the first round and won in straight sets. In the second round, Vesnina caused a huge upset when she beat former world No. 1 and seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams in three sets, despite serving for the match at 6–0, 5–4 and having a match point. Vesnina then faced in-form Britain Johanna Konta but lost in three sets being only two points from victory. In doubles, Vesnina and Kasatkina fell to two-time Grand Slam champion Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Lucie Šafářová in the second round.

At the Charleston Open, the 85th-ranked Vesnina became the first qualifier to ever reach the championship match in the tournament's 44-year history, where she faced a determined Sloane Stephens. Vesnina won five main-draw matches in a row just to reach the finals. However, Stephens ended up prevailing 7–6, 6–2 as the fatigue of 718 minutes – nearly 12 hours – of tournament tennis appeared to take a toll on Vesnina in the second set.[11]

Vesnina again subdued the qualification, now in Madrid. In every match she performed a bagel (winning a set 6–0), except in the second round, where she fell to Kvitova. In doubles, she and Makarova played their first tournament together since late 2015 and reached the semifinals. In Rome, Vesnina could not qualify for the main draw. However, with Makarova she reached the final, losing to Hingis/Mirza.

At Wimbledon, Vesnina competed in her first Grand Slam semifinal with straight set victories over Tamira Paszek, Andrea Petkovic, and Julia Boserup in the first three rounds before outlasting good friend and doubles partner Makarova in three sets to advance to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. She then easily defeated Dominika Cibulkova to continue her resurgence into the semifinals, where she was handily defeated by world No. 1 and eventual champion, Serena Williams, in 48 minutes, the quickest Wimbledon semifinal in the history of the championships.

Vesnina and Makarova finally won their first tournament title of 2016 at the Rogers Cup and then won the gold medals at the Summer Olympics for Russia; this was the very first time that a Russian duo won in an Olympic doubles event. In singles, Vesnina lost to 10th seed Madison Keys in the Rogers Cup and to Elina Svitolina in Connecticut. Seeded 19th in the US Open, Vesnina defeated Anett Kontaveit and Annika Beck before losing to 11th seed Carla Suárez Navarro in the third round. In doubles, Vesnina and Makarova were seeded fifth. They saved match points against Samantha Stosur/Zhang Shuai in the second round, and defeated 10th seed Vania King/Monica Niculescu and 13th seed Andreja Klepač/Katarina Srebotnik to reach the semifinals where they lost to 12th seeds Mattek-Sands/Šafářová.

Vesnina and Makarova qualified for their third joint WTA Finals, defeating Hlavackova/Hradecka, Hingis/Mirza and Mattek-Sands/Safarova en route to win their first Championships title.

2017: Indian Wells singles and Wimbledon doubles titles, career high singles ranking[]

Vesnina began season at the Brisbane International. In singles, she was seeded seventh but lost her first match to Alizé Cornet. Alongside Makarova, seeded second, the pair reached the doubles final, but lost to top seeds Mattek-Sands and Mirza. Another opening match loss in singles came in Sydney, losing to CoCo Vandeweghe.

Vesnina then headed to the Australian Open, where she was seeded 14th in singles and third in the doubles, again, alongside Makarova. Vesnina would reach the third round in the singles and the quarterfinals in the doubles. Her singles form began to pick up, with a quarterfinal run in St. Petersburg and last-16 appearances at the Qatar Open and the Dubai Tennis Championships. Vesnina and Makarova won their first title of the year in Dubai.

The next appearance for Vesnina would be at Indian Wells. Seeded 14th, Vesnina defeated Shelby Rogers and Timea Babos to set-up a fourth round meeting with Angelique Kerber, who was guaranteed to return to world No. 1 at the end of the tournament. Vesnina beat the US Open champion, before defeating Australian Open runner-up Venus Williams and the in-form Kristina Mladenovic to reach her first Premier Mandatory final. In an all-Russian final against Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vesnina came from a set down to win her third WTA singles title, the biggest of her career so far, in just over three hours. With this victory, Vesnina climbed to a career-high ranking of 13. She then traveled to Florida for the Miami Open and lost in the second round to Ajla Tomljanović.

Vesnina started clay-court season with a stunning loss at the Charleston Open to the 282nd ranked player in the world, Fanny Stollár. She received a bye in the first round and lost in straight sets, 6–7, 6–7. She lost in the second round to Daria Kasatkina at the Grand Prix. Her clay-court season continued to spiral as she lost in the first round of the Madrid Open, Italian Open, and at Strasbourg. However, her and Makarova did make it to the finals in the doubles of the Italian Open. They lost to Latisha Chan and Martina Hingis. After a string of losses in the first round, Vesnina reached the third round of the French Open. After two three set matches in the first two rounds, she lost to Carla Suárez Navarro in the third round. Vesnina and Makarova lost in the quarterfinals during the doubles competition.

Beginning the grass-court season at Eastbourne, she received a bye in the first round and beat Verónica Cepede Royg in the second. However, she lost to the eventual finalist Caroline Wozniacki in the third round. Entering Wimbledon, Vesnina was seeded 15th. She won a tough first-round match against the young Russian Anna Blinkova. She was then defeated by the resurgent Victoria Azarenka in the second round. Vesnina's good fortune in her doubles partnership with Makarova carried on to the summer, where the team beat Chan Hao-ching and Monica Niculescu in the Wimbledon doubles final with a score of 6–0, 6–0, in 55 minutes.[12] This was the first "double bagel" in the women's doubles tournament final since 1953.[13]

Vesnina traveled to Toronto for the Rogers Cup where she was defeated by Ashleigh Barty in the second round. However, Vesnina and Makarova won second Premier Mandatory doubles title of the year. They beat Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Květa Peschke in the final. Vesnina beat Caroline Garcia in the first round of the Cincinnati Open before falling to Caroline Wozniacki in the second round. Before the US Open, Vesnina competed at the Connecticut Open, but lost in the first round to Ana Bogdan. Vesnina Opened her US Open with a win in the first round over Anna Blinkova. She followed this with a second round win over Kirsten Flipkens. Vesnina took it to Madison Keys in the third round, winning the first set, but lost the next two sets. Seeded first in the doubles competition, Vesnina and Makarova were the favorites to win. However, they lost in the third round to the 14th seeds Andreja Klepač and María José Martínez Sánchez.

Vesnina returned at the Wuhan Open where she lost in the third round to qualifier Maria Sakkari. She made another third-round appearance at the China Open where she lost to Elina Svitolina. Vesnina and Makarova lost in the semifinals to Tímea Babos and Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková. Vesnina had early-round exits at both the Hong Kong Open and Kremlin Cup. Due to her success in doubles with Makarova, Elena qualified for the doubles tournament at the WTA Finals. They easily defeated Gabriela Dabrowski and Xu Yifan. However, they were stunned by Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson in the next round. Vesnina ended her season at the WTA Elite Trophy. She lost both of her matches in the round-robins stage, ending her season. She ended the year 18th in singles and third in doubles. Her doubles ranking at the end of the year was a career high.

2018: World No. 1 in doubles[]

Vesnina began the season with a win in the first round at the Sydney International over Lara Arruabarrena. She fell in the second round to Dominika Cibulková. She went into the Australian Open as the 16th seed and beat Ons Jabeur in the first round. However, she lost to Naomi Osaka in the second. In October, Vesnina announced that she was pregnant.[14]

2021: Comeback, Wimbledon doubles final, return to top 100 in doubles and silver medal in mixed doubles at the Olympics[]

Having taken maternity leave since November 2018, Vesnina announced a return to professional tennis on December 31, 2020, in advance of the 2021 season.[15] She won the first match of her return at the Qatar Open, partnering Laura Siegemund.

In singles, on her comeback trail, she reached the 3rd round of Roland Garros where she lost to the 21st seed and eventual quarter-finalist Elena Rybakina. At the same event she reached the finals of mixed doubles partnering Aslan Karatsev in which they were defeated by Joe Salisbury and Desirae Krawczyk. At Wimbledon, Elena won her first singles round match against Martina Trevisan in straight sets, before losing to the 20th seed Coco Gauff.

At the 2021 Wimbledon Championships partnering Veronika Kudermetova, the unseeded pair ousted top seeds and reigning Roland Garros champions Barbora Krejcikova / Katerina Siniakova and Caroline Dolehide / Storm Sanders in the semifinals en route to the finals.[16] They lost to the former number one doubles players and 3rd seeded pair Hsieh Su-Wei and Elise Mertens in a tight three set match, despite having two match points.[17] She returned to the Top 100 in doubles at No.55 - up 84 places from No.139. In singles, her second-round showing saw her climb another 66 spots, from No.370 to No.304.[18]

At the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Women's Doubles, Vesnina again partnered Kudermetova. The pair lost in the semifinal to eventual gold medalists Krejčíková and Siniaková of the Czech Republic. In the bronze medal match, Vesnina and Kudermetova were defeated by Brazilians Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani, despite having 4 consecutive match points at 9-5 in the 3rd set super-tiebreak.[19] In Mixed Doubles, partnering Karatsev, Vesnina earned a silver medal, losing in the final to compatriots Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, failing to convert a match point at 10-9 in the 3rd set super-tiebreak.[20][21]

Playing style and endorsements[]

Vesnina has an all-court game, but mainly focuses on having an offensive baseline game. She is right-handed and plays with a two-handed backhand. Her game is centred around getting control in rallies by using her groundstrokes to dominate play or move her opponents around the court in order to find an opening. Her forehand is consistent and powerful, but her backhand is her strongest shot. She uses it to find many angles on the court and dominate play. She possesses a good serve and regularly hits it between 100 and 110 mph (161–177 km/h), but relies on placement and accuracy to dominate and serve aces. However, she can also encounter problems with her second serve, and this can result in a few double faults in a match.

Vesnina's doubles career and play has meant, she has amassed good volleying skills and reflexes and can apply her net-play to singles. She is also very crafty around the court and frequently uses a variety of drop shots, volleys and angles to win points. Her movement and footwork around the court is very good, and she can move and accelerate around the court laterally very well. Her footwork is also very precise, and she is very good at recovering and setting herself up for the next shot.

Vesnina's clothing sponsor used to be Lacoste but just before the 2017 Australian Open, she was signed by Nike. During the maternity leave in 2020, she became endorsed by the Russian brand  [it] for sportswear. She also has become an ambassador of the local oatmeal manufacturer 'Hercules'.[22][23] She is also endorsed by Babolat for her racquets. She endorses the Babolat Pure Strike range of racquets.

Career statistics[]

Performance timelines[]

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G F-S SF-B NMS P NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles[]

Current through the 2021 Wimbledon Championships.

Tournament 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 ... 2021 SR W–L Win%
Australian Open A 4R 2R 3R 1R 1R 1R 1R 4R 1R 1R Q1 3R 2R A 0 / 12 12–12 50%
French Open A 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 3R 2R 3R 1R 3R 0 / 14 8–14 36%
Wimbledon A 2R 3R 2R 4R 1R 2R 2R 2R 2R 1R SF 2R A 2R 0 / 13 18–13 58%
US Open Q2 1R 1R 2R 3R 1R 1R 2R 2R 3R 2R 3R 3R A 0 / 12 12–12 50%
Win–Loss 0–0 4–4 3–4 4–4 6–4 0–4 1–4 2–4 5–4 4–4 3–4 8–3 7–4 1–2 2–2 0 / 51 50–51 50%

Doubles[]

Tournament 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 SR W–L Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A 1R 1R 2R 3R 3R 2R SF SF F QF 3R QF F A A A 0 / 13 31–13 70%
French Open A QF 1R 2R F 3R F QF W 2R SF F QF 1R A A 1R 1 / 14 38–13 75%
Wimbledon A 1R 3R 2R 3R F SF QF 3R 3R F QF W A A NH F 1 / 13 38–11 78%
US Open A 3R 1R 2R QF QF 3R 3R QF W 2R SF 3R A A A 1 / 12 29–10 74%
Win–Loss 0–0 5–4 2–4 4–4 11–3 11–4 12–4 12–4 15–3 13–3 13–3 14–4 14–3 5–2 0–0 0–0 5–2 3 / 52 136–47 74%
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics Not Held QF Not Held QF Not Held G Not Held 4th 1 / 4 12–4 75%
Year-end championship
WTA Finals Did not qualify F QF A W SF A DNQ NH 1 / 4 5–3 63%
Career statistics
Titles 1 0 1 1 0 0 3 2 2 1 1 3 3 1 0 0 0 Career total: 19
Finals 1 2 3 3 1 1 4 6 3 3 4 5 5 3 0 0 1 Career total: 44
Year-end ranking 126 46 45 18 22 23 10 9 5 7 8 6 3 16

Grand Slam finals[]

Doubles: 11 (3 titles, 8 runner-ups)[]

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2009 French Open Clay Belarus Victoria Azarenka Spain Anabel Medina Garrigues
Spain Virginia Ruano Pascual
1–6, 1–6
Loss 2010 Wimbledon Grass Russia Vera Zvonareva United States Vania King
Kazakhstan Yaroslava Shvedova
6–7(6–8), 2–6
Loss 2011 French Open Clay India Sania Mirza Czech Republic Andrea Hlaváčková
Czech Republic Lucie Hradecká
4–6, 3–6
Win 2013 French Open Clay Russia Ekaterina Makarova Italy Sara Errani
Italy Roberta Vinci
7–5, 6–2
Loss 2014 Australian Open Hard Russia Ekaterina Makarova Italy Sara Errani
Italy Roberta Vinci
4–6, 6–3, 5–7
Win 2014 US Open Hard Russia Ekaterina Makarova Switzerland Martina Hingis
Italy Flavia Pennetta
2–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss 2015 Wimbledon Grass Russia Ekaterina Makarova Switzerland Martina Hingis
India Sania Mirza
7–5, 6–7(4–7), 5–7
Loss 2016 French Open Clay Russia Ekaterina Makarova France Caroline Garcia
France Kristina Mladenovic
3–6, 6–2, 4–6
Win 2017 Wimbledon Grass Russia Ekaterina Makarova Chinese Taipei Chan Hao-ching
Romania Monica Niculescu
6–0, 6–0
Loss 2018 Australian Open Hard Russia Ekaterina Makarova Hungary Tímea Babos
France Kristina Mladenovic
4–6, 3–6
Loss 2021 Wimbledon Grass Russia Veronika Kudermetova Chinese Taipei Hsieh Su-wei
Belgium Elise Mertens
6–3, 5–7, 7–9

Mixed doubles: 5 (1 title, 4 runner-ups)[]

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2011 Wimbledon Grass India Mahesh Bhupathi Austria Jürgen Melzer
Czech Republic Iveta Benešová
3–6, 2–6
Loss 2012 Australian Open Hard India Leander Paes Romania Horia Tecău
United States Bethanie Mattek-Sands
3–6, 7–5, [3–10]
Loss 2012 Wimbledon Grass India Leander Paes United States Mike Bryan
United States Lisa Raymond
3–6, 7–5, 4–6
Win 2016 Australian Open Hard Brazil Bruno Soares United States CoCo Vandeweghe
Romania Horia Tecău
6–4, 4–6, [10–5]
Loss 2021 French Open Clay Russia Aslan Karatsev United States Desirae Krawczyk
United Kingdom Joe Salisbury
6–2, 4–6, [5–10]

WTA Tour Championships finals[]

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)[]

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2013 WTA Tour Championships, Istanbul Hard (i) Russia Ekaterina Makarova Chinese Taipei Hsieh Su-wei
China Peng Shuai
4–6, 5–7
Win 2016 WTA Finals, Singapore Hard (i) Russia Ekaterina Makarova United States Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Czech Republic Lucie Šafářová
7–6(7–5), 6–3

Olympic finals[]

Doubles: 2 (1 Gold medal, 1 4th place)[]

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Gold 2016 Rio Summer Olympics Hard Russia Ekaterina Makarova Switzerland Timea Bacsinszky
Switzerland Martina Hingis
6–4, 6–4
4th place 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics Hard Russia Veronika Kudermetova Brazil Laura Pigossi
Brazil Luisa Stefani
6–4, 4–6, [9–11]

Mixed Doubles: 1 (1 Silver medal)[]

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Silver 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Hard Russia Aslan Karatsev Russia Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Russia Andrey Rublev
3–6, 7–6(7–5), [11–13]

Awards[]

2008
2013
  • The Russian Cup in the nomination Pair of the Year (with Ekaterina Makarova)[25]
  • WTA Fan Favorite Doubles Team of the Year[26]
2014
  • The Russian Cup in the nomination Pair of the Year (with Makarova)[27]
2016
  • The Russian Cup in the nomination Pair of the Year (with Makarova)[28]
  • Honorary Citizen of Sochi[29]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Russian: Еле́на Серге́евна Веснина́; IPA: [jɪˈlʲɛnə vʲɪsnʲɪˈna] About this soundlisten 

References[]

  1. ^ Vesnina Vaults Into Wimbledon Semifinals
  2. ^ https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/pavlyuchenkova-rublev-win-all-roc-mixed-doubles-gold-medal-match
  3. ^ https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2203625/tokyo-2020-pavlyuchenkova-and-rublev-save-match-point-to-win-olympic-gold-in-mixed-doubles
  4. ^ Player Profile – Dmitry Vesnin
  5. ^ "Теннисистка Елена Веснина выйдет замуж летом следующего года" [Tennis player Elena Vesnina gets married in next year's summer] (in Russian). Sochi Express. 21 April 2014. Archived from the original on 27 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  6. ^ "Веснина: "Я, наверное, кенгуру, а супруг — коала. Мне очень нравятся коалы"" [Vesnina: "I perhaps am a kangaroo, and my husband – a koala. I really like koalas"] (in Russian). GameSetMatch.ru. 20 December 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  7. ^ "Paes-Vesnina falter at final hurdle in Wimbledon". 9 July 2012.
  8. ^ "Elena Vesnina breaks WTA title duck at Hobart International | Tennis News". ESPN.co.uk. 12 January 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  9. ^ "Azarenka cruises, Kuznetsova upsets Wozniacki – ABC Grandstand Sport". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 21 January 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  10. ^ Soares doubles up with Vesnina to claim mixed title Archived 31 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20160410/PC20/160419906/1094/elena-vesnina-x2019-s-week-qualifies-as-success-at-volvo-car-open
  12. ^ "Makarova, Vesnina cruise to third Slam title". ESPN.com. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  13. ^ "Kubot-Melo, Makarova-Vesnina win doubles titles at Wimbledon". USA TODAY. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  14. ^ [1]
  15. ^ "Former Doubles World No.1 Vesnina Plans Her Return to WTA Tour - Tennis Now".
  16. ^ "Hsieh, Mertens to meet Kudermetova, Vesnina in Wimbledon doubles final".
  17. ^ "Hsieh, Mertens save match points, win Wimbledon in doubles thriller".
  18. ^ "Mertens back to doubles No.1, Muguruza returns to Top 10 following Wimbledon".
  19. ^ "Pigossi and Stefani win historic bronze medal for Brazil".
  20. ^ https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2203625/tokyo-2020-pavlyuchenkova-and-rublev-save-match-point-to-win-olympic-gold-in-mixed-doubles
  21. ^ https://www.atptour.com/en/news/mixed-doubles-tokyo-final-2021-sunday
  22. ^ "Веснина снялась в рекламе каши" [Vesnina in oatmeal ads]. sports.ru (in Russian). 26 August 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  23. ^ "BOSCOWORKOUT ON TOP OF PETROVSKY PASSAGE". boscofamily.ru. 10 August 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  24. ^ Baburov, Grigory. "Four tennis players of the Olympic Games-2020 are awarded with the title of "Merited Master of Sports of Russia"". championat.com (in Russian). Russia. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  25. ^ "Екатерина Макарова и Елена Веснина получили премию "Русский Кубок" в номинации "Дуэт года"". GoTennis. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  26. ^ "WTA Awards". WTA. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  27. ^ "Екатерина Макарова и Елена Веснина стали обладательницами премии "Русский Кубок" в номинации "Дуэт года"". GoTennis. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  28. ^ "Веснина и Макарова стали лауреатами премии "Русский Кубок"". Championat.com. 22 November 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  29. ^ Веснина: очень счастлива стать почётным гражданином Сочи. Спасибо за такую честь

External links[]

Awards
Preceded by
United States Serena Williams &
United States Venus Williams
WTA Fan Favorite Doubles Team of the Year
(with Russia Ekaterina Makarova)

2013
Succeeded by
Italy Sara Errani &
Italy Roberta Vinci
Retrieved from ""