Dr. Andrew Broad
Tennis
Vera Zvonarëva
Biography

The Russian Revolution, which was the major talking-point of women's tennis in 2004, may be said to have begun on Sunday 1st June 2003, when Venus Williams was beaten in the fourth round of the French Open by a cute and flairsomely talented 18-year-old Russian girl named Vera Zvonarëva. This ensured it would be the first Major since the Australian Open 2002 not to feature a final between Venus and Serena Williams, and it triggered a seismic change in women's tennis.

I have admired Vera ever since she caught my eye that hot day in Paris (the third set was televised by the BBC): for her beautifully-produced groundstrokes of flairsome power (two-handed on the backhand) which make a lovely 'thock' when she hits the ball in an arena with the right acoustics; for the way she combines amazing lateral retrieval abilities with powerful hitting; and most of all for her tremendous fighting spirit. After 19 months of increasing obsessive interest in her, I finally decided to induct Vera into my Eternal Fanship at the start of 2005.

Vera is a very adaptable player, competent on all surfaces, and able to play the role of baseliner, retriever, or all-court player, depending on her opponent and the conditions. She is very resourceful in defence, and also willing to experiment with aspects of the game that most players take for granted, such as where she stands to serve. Her retrieval-skills are particularly effective on clay, due to her special ability to slide into her shots.
            I wrote the above paragraph in 2005, and Vera herself said very similar words in a 2008 interview: "I would say I'm an all-around-the-court player. Mostly you'll see me playing on the baseline. I can be aggressive, but I can also play defense. I adjust to every opponent I have to play. I think I'm universal, but you'll see me play more from the baseline."

Vera is one of the best defensive players I have ever seen - not the boring kind who just keeps the ball in play, but a hard-hitting one with a brilliant ability to turn defence into attack, shifting the momentum of the rally in her favour and often able to finish such rallies with clean winners! She runs down every single ball, and can retrieve impossible-looking balls with amazing 'gets' - even for a direct winner on some occasions! She's very adept at using her arms to make up for what her feet don't cover when she's driven wide. And she can hit surprisingly aggressive shots when she's off-balance. Any times her lateral movement lets her down are probably due to poor anticipation rather than poor mobility.

Vera doesn't play spectacular tennis all the time, though. Against really big hitters such as Lindsay Davenport, she can go into a defensive mode where she's just chasing everything and not hitting the ball hard enough, with too few winners to be classed as "brilliant". That was one reason why I took 19 months after the French Open 2003 to decide that she was worthy of my fanship. Even now, I would like to see her play more spreading rallies and hit more winners. She is more aggressive against lesser players, but tends to resort to the role of counter-puncher against top players who can dictate the play against her.
            The above may come across as a negative paragraph, but I always love watching Vera play, and I don't regret for one moment my decision to induct her into my Eternal Fanship.

When I acquired Vera's Philadelphia 2004 quarter-final and semi-final from Tennis Videos International, I was very impressed with the power of her groundstrokes and her serve. Previously, I thought her serve was nothing special (except that she has a cute and unorthodox service-action: the way she sort of crouches at the start of it), but at Philadelphia, she was hitting booming serves and an amazing number of aces for a girl who stands just short of 5'8"! Vera's serve into the deuce-court is particularly difficult to return, because she can hit either a sharp-angled serve out wide or a boomer down the middle. She hits both first and second serves over 100mph.
            After the Sony Ericsson Championships 2008 final, Steve Tignor of Tennis.com wrote: "Zvonarëva managed to make that awkward service-motion - she looks like she's going to fall over backwards as she tosses the ball - work for her. A great athlete can make up for a lot of sins of imprecision on the serve with an explosive upward swing and wrist-snap. Zvonarëva does that in spades."

Vera has great depth on her groundshots, which makes it difficult for her opponents to hit winners, and also great angles. She has a huge forehand which she can either angle sharply or drive deep into the court, and is particularly good at hitting forehand winners down the line. She has a Western grip on her forehand, which facilitates topspin, depth and acute angles - and early preparation. She plays with great precision and placement, often painting the sidelines. She has the ability to take time away from her opponent by hitting the ball early: particularly on return of serve and particularly on the backhand. From what I've seen so far, she has good passing-shots too: with topspin and angles rather than power. "Smart tennis, margin for error - that's what Zvonarëva is all about" [Sam Smith at Moscow 2006].

Vera has great variety on her groundstrokes: pace, spin, depth, angles. In addition to her regular drives, she also has natural slice on both her backhand and her forehand when she chooses to use it - usually as a defensive shot when she's stretched wide, although it could also serve her well as an approach-shot if she chose to develop a more net-oriented style of play.

Vera comes to the net only occasionally (in singles), but she seems usually to win the points when she does, so perhaps she should come in more often. She hits some beautiful volleys: either a sharp, stinging putaway, or an angled drop-volley of lovely touch. Playing in an era when most players hit swinging drive-volleys when they come to the net, Vera also has lovely punch-volleys.

Vera is most famous for her on-court emotions. It doesn't take much to get her shouting and throwing her racket, and it's not at all unusual to see her in tears during a match - even when she's ahead! Usually she does her crying during the changeovers, with her face in a towel. This shows that she cares, and makes her all the more exciting to watch. On the other hand, it's information for her opponents that the more experienced ones can use against her.
            Vera: "Sometimes I might get too upset about a shot. That's just the way I am. I let the emotions out, and then I'm a new person. I'm just trying to do my best."

And she can have temper-tantrums: once, when a young Vera was playing World Team Tennis and the crowd were being particularly nasty to her, she threw a waterbottle into the stands! And when she's having one of her infamous emotional meltdowns, she can be crying, shouting, swearing, throwing her racket, hitting her head or her feet with her racket, arguing line-calls, complaining to her coach, and lying down on the court! Sometimes she uses techniques such as tying her shoelaces to keep such explosions at bay.
            Vera: "When I get angry, it doesn't stay with me for long. I can usually refocus for the next point." [Source: Tennis Week]
            But commentators tend to say that she doesn't get it back together for the next point (unlike a certain Mr. J.P. McEnroe).

Because she often shows only negative emotions, Vera is often accused of being mentally weak, even of being a choker. But she doesn't cry because she fears losing - she cries because she has no tolerance of herself when she's not playing well. And I'll say this for her: she always fights to the bitter end, no matter how tired she might be at the end of a long three-setter. She has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat several times in her career: most notably when she recovered from 4-6 *3-5 to beat world #1 Maria Sharapova at Indian Wells 2007.
            Vera in 2008: "I think I'm a totally different player right now. I'm more experienced and more mature. I've definitely changed over the years - everyone does. When I'm on the court, I'm fighting. I can be emotional; I can be happy; I can be upset. But I'd describe myself as no matter what, I'm trying and I'm fighting. I'm more mature, so I don't expect myself to play good every day. I just want to do everything I can to win that match on that particular day."

Vera is a very nice person off the court from what I've heard (and I've never heard anything to the contrary). She can be very outspoken when she feels strongly about something (whether it's the quality of the umpiring during a match, or the WTA Tour's tournament-schedule), but she has a lot of warmth and natural charm. She is friends with other Russian players such as Maria Sharapova, Anastasia Myskina and Svetlana Kuznetsova, and has remained faithful to Maria when other Russians have criticised Maria. And she has tremendous compassion for injured opponents: most famously demonstrated when Mary Pierce suffered a horrific knee-injury at Linz 2006, and Vera was the first person to reach her with ice.

When Vera reached the final of the Sony Ericsson Championships 2008, she said something that seemed to sum up her entire philosophy: "I've not really thought about the money. I try to challenge myself and do my best, and produce the highest level I can. I always try to be good at what I do. If I am not good, I don't touch it. If I am, I try to make it perfect."

Vera is very intelligent, both on and off the court. In the summer of 2007, she graduated with a degree from the Russian State University of Physical Education at Moscow, then started reading world-economy at the Russian Diplomatic Academy (the university at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs): obviously she can only attend lectures during breaks from touring, but she's in it for the knowledge rather than passing exams. My understanding is that she expects to get her second degree in 2011.

I find Vera very cute and photogenic, even though she often dresses very conservatively, and doesn't play the glamour-game like Maria or Anna Kournikova. That said, at the Sony Ericsson Championships 2008 pretournament photo-shoot, she looked so hot! She may not choose to dress sexily all the time, but she's quite voluptuous, she does have the most beautiful blue eyes and a distinctive quirky mouth, and if she walks past me at a tournament, I find her so wonderful that I go weak at the knees! Her natural hair-colour is brown, though she often dyes it blonde.
            Vera: "Tennis-player I think is the artist and I think it's important, but sometimes people like too much the image and other stuff. I think it's important in some cases, and in some cases you should relax and forget the bodies." [Source: exclusive interview for Inside-Tennis.Net, Warsaw 2004]

Vera's main achievements (to the end of 2008) include seven WTA Tour singles-titles (the first at Bol 2003, the latest at Guangzhou 2008), although she has yet to win one higher than Tier III. She has won three Major doubles-titles (mixed doubles at the US Open 2004 and Wimbledon 2006, and women's doubles at the US Open 2006) and three more WTA doubles-titles. Her best singles-performance in a Major to date has been a quarter-final at the French Open 2003 (she has reached seven other Major fourth rounds). She was on the teams that won the Fed Cup for Russia in 2004 and 2008 - both times winning a rubber in the final. Arguably her best tournament so far has been reaching the final of the Sony Ericsson Championships 2008, where she beat four top-seven players!

Vera's notable victims include Major champions Venus and Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova (three times, including Vera's first win over a reigning world #1 at Indian Wells 2007), Ana Ivanovic (three times), Svetlana Kuznetsova (four times) and Jennifer Capriati - whom she thrashed 6-0 6-1 at Philadelphia 2004 in a must-win match to qualify for the WTA Tour Championships. She also beat Jelena Jankovic at the Sony Ericsson Championships 2008 for her second win over a reigning world #1, although Jankovic has never (as of the end of 2008) won a Major.

Vera's highest ranking so far (end of 2008) has been her current #7, which she reached after the Sony Ericsson Championships 2008, but I believe she has the potential to reach the top four and win a Major singles-title.

Vera was born in Moscow on 7th September 1984. Her father is Igor Zvonarëv. Her mother, Dr. Natalia Zvonarëva, was the Natalia Bykova who won a Bronze Medal for the Soviet Union in grass-hockey at the Moscow 1980 Olympics, and now Vera has won an Olympic Bronze Medal too! (at Beijing 2008). Natalia introduced Vera to tennis at the age of six, and Vera has an outside interest in hockey herself.

Vera played her early tennis at a club called Chaika; nowadays, when she's in Moscow she trains at the CSKA club. Up until 2004, Vera was coached by Julia Kashevarova, who runs tennis-academies in Russia and America.

Vera had some success in junior tennis, winning the Head Cup in Russia (beating Joulia Oussanova 6-2 6-2 in the final) and the Samara Cup in Ukraine (beating Oksana Karyshkova 6-3 6-3 in the final) both in June, and the Garrone International in Hungary (beating Edina Gallovits 2-6 7-6 7-5 in the final) in August.

Fifteen-year-old Vera played her first tournament counting towards the WTA Rankings at Tbilisi, a $25,000 tournament on the ITF Women's Circuit. She qualified for the main draw beating Valeria Bondarenko (older sister of Alyona and Kateryna) 6-1 6-0, Anna Eugenia Nefedova 6-2 6-3 and Olga Kalioujnaia 6-3 6-0 - none of whom were ranked higher than #670. In the first round of the main draw she drew top seed Tatiana Poutchek, ranked #133, and lost 6-2 6-3.

Vera concentrated mainly on junior tennis, winning the Slovakia Cup in April (she thrashed Jenny Lindstrom 6-2 6-0 in the final), and Citta Di Prato in Italy (beating Edina Gallovits 6-3 7-6 in the final) in May.

Vera turned professional in September, and in only the second adult tournament of her career, she won the $10,000 ITF Moscow, beating Marina Samoilenko 6-3 6-3, Natalia Bogdanova 6-4 6-2, Galina Fokina 6-4 7-5, Raissa Gourevich 6-3 7-6, and second seed Maria Goloviznina 6-4 6-2 in the final.

Vera made her WTA Tour début at Moscow. Given a wild card for the main draw, she beat Elena Bovina 6-7 7-5 6-1 in the first round, and lost to fourth seed Anna Kournikova 7-6 6-4 in the second round.

The following week, Vera played a little ITF tournament at Minsk, and lost in the first round to Svetlana Kuznetsova 5-3 4-2 4-5 (4/7) 4-2 under an experimental scoring system: best of five sets, but each set played to four games instead of six. This gave her a WTA ranking, which was #357 at the end of the year.

In December, Vera won the Orange Bowl (18-and-under division), a Grade A junior tournament (the same as the junior Majors) at Miami. She won the final 7-6 6-4 over Edina Gallovits, who was frustrated by the incredible retrieving and moonballs with which Vera negated her spin (thanks to Juniortennis.com for this information).

Vera interleaved junior tournaments with a rather mediocre year on the ITF Women's Circuit. First she tried to qualify for the WTA Ericsson Open at Miami, but lost in the first qualifying round to Maria Vento 6-2 7-5.

Vera then played three little ITF tournaments on clay in Italy, reaching the quarter-finals at Quartu Sant'Elena and at Cagliardi (losing 6-1 6-3 to a certain qualifier called Svetlana Kuznetsova). She fell in the first round of qualifying for ITF Caserta to sexy Mia Buric.

Vera reached the quarter-finals of the girls' singles at the French Open by beating second seed Jelena Jankovic 7-5 6-4, but lost there to Ashley Harkleroad 2-6 6-4 9-7.

Vera continued her preference for West-European clay by playing three more ITF tournaments, reaching the quarter-finals at Vaihingen and Darmstadt. She reached the semi-finals of ITF Civitanova by upsetting fourth seed Antonella Serra-Zanetti 6-3 2-6 6-3, and lost to the very pretty Gisela Dulko 6-3 6-4.

In August she won the European Junior Team Championships, and won the junior Canadian Open, playing "an aggressive and error-free match" to defeat Claudine Schaul 6-4 6-1 in the final. "I was very nervous in the first set because it's not every day that you play on centre court in front of so many people. But in the second set I knew that I could play good and I believed in myself." Vera celebrated by successfully calling her mother on a mobile phone from centre court! :-) Thanks to Juniortennis.com for the information on this match.

For the second time in 2001, Vera tried but failed to qualify for a WTA tournament, beating Maureen Drake 5-7 6-1 6-3 but losing 6-4 7-6 to Martina Suchá in the second qualifying round for Moscow. She then lost in the first round of ITF Saint Raphael to Laura Dell'Angelo, and finished the year with a WTA ranking of #371 - worse than at the start of the year (she was ranked #275 before the points from ITF Moscow 2000 came off).

Vera was busy with junior tennis in December. She was on the Russian team that won the Connolly Continental Cup. She successfully defended her Orange Bowl title with a 6-7 6-4 6-3 win over Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. She won the Yucatan Cup beating Barbora Strycová 6-3 5-7 6-2 in the final. She was going through the Casablanca Cup like a hot knife through butter... but had to pull out before her semi-final with a throat-and-stomach infection. She finished the year with an ITF junior ranking of #4.

Vera started the year by successfully qualifying for Memphis, and falling in the first round of the main draw to fourth seed Alexandra Stevenson 7-6 4-6 7-6. She did the same at Miami, pushing Iva Majoli hard in the first round before bowing out 2-6 6-2 7-5. That was the first time I remember ever seeing the name Vera Zvonarëva.

Vera won the second ITF title of her career at Naples, beating Bryanne Stewart 6-1 6-0, Gisela Dulko 6-0 6-3, Teryn Ashley 6-3 6-3, Sarah Taylor 6-4 5-7 6-3, and Maureen Drake 6-1 6-3 in the final. Her ranking rose from #279 to #217.

Vera won five matches in a row to qualify and reach the quarter-finals at Bol, culminating in a 6-4 6-2 upset of eighth seed Katarina Srebotnik. In the quarters she was thrashed 6-2 6-0 in 58 minutes by Iva Majoli. Vera broke into the top 200 at #177.

Vera reached her first WTA Tour semi-final at Warsaw, beating Eva Bes 4-6 6-4 6-1, Emilie Loit 6-3 6-2 and Selima Sfar 6-4 7-6. She lost to top seed Henrieta Nagyová 6-1 6-4 in the semis, and her ranking rose to #142.

Vera won six matches in a row to qualify and reach the fourth round of the French Open - her first Major tournament. To qualify, she beat Valentina Sassi 3-6 6-4 6-2, Kristie Boogert 7-6 6-2 and Angelika Bachmann 6-3 6-3. In the main draw, she beat Maja Matevzic 6-4 7-6, Marta Marrero 6-2 6-1 and Francesca Schiavone 6-2 6-7 7-5. In the fourth round she took the first set off third seed Serena Williams, who stormed back to win 4-6 6-0 6-1 and went on to win the title. Vera broke into the top 100 at #90.

At Wimbledon, Vera beat Antonella Serra Zanetti 6-3 6-2, but in the second round she lost to Iva Majoli for the third time, this time 7-6 6-2 after leading 4-2 in the first set.

Vera reached her first WTA Tour final at Palermo. She beat the pretty Czech girl Iveta Benesová 6-2 7-6, Bianka Lamade 7-6 6-0, Ekaterina Syssoeva 6-0 6-4, and had just taken the first set off top seed Paola Suárez 7-5 when the latter retired due to sunstroke. Vera lost the final 6-7 6-1 6-3 to Mariana Diaz-Oliva, and her ranking rose to #65.

Vera reached the semi-finals at Sopot, beating seventh seed Maja Matevzic 6-3 6-2, Flavia Pennetta 6-3 6-1 and Virginia Ruano Pascual 2-6 6-4 7-5. She lost to qualifier Dinara Safina (Marat Safin's sister) 6-3 6-2 in the semis. She then fell to Laura Granville 6-3 6-1 in the second round of qualifying for Montréal.

At the US Open, Vera beat Emmanuelle Gagliardi 6-3 6-3 in the first round, and inflicted a 6-1 6-0 drubbing on Henrieta Nagyová (sweet revenge for Warsaw) in the second. She suffered another heroic defeat in the third round, losing 1-6 7-5 6-4 to seventh seed Kim Clijsters after leading 6-1 3-1. Her ranking rose from #57 to #49.

Vera padded out the year by losing to Sunitha Rao in the first round of qualifying for Bahia, to Elena Bovina in the first round of Moscow (after winning three matches to qualify, and having three match-points against Bovina), and to Anca Barna in the third qualifying round for Zürich. She beat Rita Grande 6-2 6-3 in the first round of Luxembourg, but lost to Janette Husárová by the same score in the second round. She finished 2002 ranked #45.

Vera enjoyed a very impressive season in which she won her first WTA Tour singles-title (at Bol), sensationally knocked Venus Williams out of the French Open to reach her first Major quarter-final, and jumped from #45 to #13 in the WTA rankings.

Vera started the season with a 6-4 6-1 upset of third seed Tatiana Panova at Auckland. She beat Anca Barna 6-3 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals, where she lost to Yoon Jeong Cho 7-6 1-6 6-3.

She also reached the quarter-finals at Hobart, beating Ĺsa Svensson 6-2 6-2 and Sarah Taylor 6-2 6-0 before being derailed by in-form Alicia Molik 5-7 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 (Vera had two match-points in the second set). But at the Australian Open she suffered her only-ever defeat in the first round of a Major when she was trounced 6-2 6-1 by 20th seed Elena Bovina. She also suffered a second-round loss to Cho in the second round of Memphis, and a first-round defeat to Eleni Daniilidou at Scottsdale.

Vera reached the quarter-finals of Indian Wells, beating Tatiana Poutchek 6-2 7-5, Iva Majoli 6-1 3-6 6-2 (her first win over Iva at the fourth attempt), Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6 7-6 6-4 and Meghann Shaughnessy 6-3 4-6 6-2. She lost to second seed Jennifer Capriati 7-5 6-2, and her ranking rose from #39 to #32. Miami was not so hot for Vera as she lost 6-4 6-4 to Denisa Chládková in the first round.

In the American green-clay leg of the tour, Vera reached the quarter-finals of Charleston, beating Sarah Taylor 6-2 6-4, eighth seed Patty Schnyder 6-2 4-6 6-4, Paola Suárez 6-4 6-4, and losing to Lindsay Davenport 7-6 6-3. At Amelia Island she bowed out to Amanda Coetzer 7-5 4-6 6-0 in the second round.

Moving onto European red clay, Vera won the first WTA singles-title of her career at Bol, beating Petra Dizdar 6-0 6-3, Anna-Lena Groenefeld 2-6 6-3 7-6 (10/8 after saving a match-point), Ludmila Cervanová 6-1 6-1, Samantha Reeves 6-3 6-4, and Conchita Martínez Granados (not to be confused with 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martínez) 6-1 6-3 in the final. She ascended to #25 in the rankings.

Vera also impressed at Berlin, beating Myriam Casanova 3-6 6-2 6-2, Anastasia Myskina 6-1 6-2, Eleni Daniilidou 7-5 4-6 6-4, and losing 6-4 7-5 to French Open champ-to-be Justine Henin-Hardenne in the quarter-finals. Her ranking rose to #22.

Vera swept to the semi-finals of Strasbourg, thrashing Virginie Razzano 6-0 6-4, Tina Pisnik 6-1 6-0 and Selesian player Marion Bartoli 6-1 6-2. She lost to talented young Croatian Karolina Šprem - a qualifier for this tournament - 3-6 6-3 6-4 in the last four.

But the turning-point of esteem for me was the French Open. After beating Martina Müller 6-1 6-3, Denisa Chládková 6-2 6-3 and Selesian player María Sánchez Lorenzo 6-3 6-4 to reach the fourth round, Vera scored a sensational 2-6 6-2 6-4 upset of third seed Venus Williams to end a run of four consecutive all-Williams Major finals.
            The third set was televised by the BBC - my first time to see Vera play - and I was very impressed by her flairsome groundstrokes, her sliding lateral retrieval abilities combined with pretty good shot-power, and most of all her tremendous fighting spirit from 4-4 in the third when she looked physically exhausted. "If you don't believe that you can win, then you can't win," she said.
            After being a break up in the third set, Vera lost an all-Russian quarter-final 6-1 4-6 6-3 to Nadia Petrova, who had knocked out Monica Seles in the first round and Jennifer Capriati in the fourth round. At least Vera now had something to replace her "most memorable moment" of losing 6-0 6-0 to Petrova when Vera was eight and Nadia was ten! ;-)
            Vera rose to #20 in the rankings immediately after the French Open.

Vera reached the semi-finals of Vienna, beating Maret Ani 6-4 6-2 and Maja Matevzic 7-5 7-5, but lost 3-6 6-4 7-5 to Karolina Šprem in a repeat of their Strasbourg semi-final. Her ranking improved to #17.

Vera showed that she is competent on grass too by reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon, beating Evie Dominikovic 6-0 6-2, Conchita Martínez Granados 6-3 6-1, and Iroda Tulyaganova 6-3 7-5 in an emotional third-round encounter when Iroda fought back three games from 5-2 to Vera in the second.
            As at the French Open, Vera faced Venus Williams in the fourth round... but on grass it was a very different story as Williams overpowered Vera 6-1 6-3. Nevertheless, Vera had a purple patch from 0-2 to 3-2 in the second set, standing in to receive second serves, and playing some beautiful spreading rallies of which I'd like to see many more.
            Vera's ranking rose to #16 after Wimbledon.

After withdrawing from San Diego and Los Angeles with a left-elbow injury, Vera reached the quarter-finals of Toronto, beating Barbara Schett 6-1 7-6, Mashona Washington 6-1 6-1 and Jelena Dokic 6-3 6-2 before losing to Paola Suárez 2-6 6-2 6-4. Her ranking now reached #14.

In the first round of New Haven, Vera thrashed Sarah Taylor 6-2 6-0 - her third win over Taylor in 2003, and her second by that particular scoreline. In the second round, Vera suffered a dramatic collapse against Anna Pistolesi (Smashnova). Vera had 6-0 5-1 with 0/30 on Pistolesi's serve, but when Pistolesi came back to win 0-6 7-6 6-2, Vera collapsed on the baseline, sobbing.

Vera reached the third round of the US Open, beating Lubomira Kurhajcová 6-3 6-2 and Ashley Harkleroad 6-3 4-6 6-1, but losing to Meghann Shaughnessy 4-6 6-4 6-2.

She reached the quarter-finals of Moscow, beating Amanda Coetzer 4-6 6-1 6-2, Vera Douchevina (Dushevina) 6-2 6-1, and losing 6-4 3-6 6-2 to Amélie Mauresmo. She was runner-up in the doubles at Moscow with Anastasia Myskina, losing the final 6-3 6-4 to Petrova and Shaughnessy. She suffered a first-round defeat to Chanda Rubin at Filderstadt.
            Vera reached her year-high ranking of #12 after Moscow.

Vera reached the quarter-finals at Zürich with a 6-0 4-6 7-6 revenge over Meghann Shaughnessy, a 6-3 7-5 win over Amy Frazier, and a 6-4 6-2 loss to eventual champion Justine Henin-Hardenne.

At Linz she beat Marion Bartoli 6-2 6-3, and scored poetic justice over Anna Pistolesi in the quarter-finals: Pistolesi led 5-1 in the third set, with one match-point each at 5-2, 5-3 and 5-4, but Vera fought back to win 6-2 3-6 7-5. Vera lost to Lisa Raymond in the first round of Philadelphia, and finished the year ranked #13.

Vera had made her Fed Cup début in July, contributing a 6-1 6-2 drubbing of Maja Matevzic to Russia's 5:0 sweep of Slovenia in the World Group quarter-finals. But Russia lost 2:3 to France in the semi-finals in November, with Vera losing 6-2 6-2 to Amélie Mauresmo and 6-4 3-6 6-3 to Mary Pierce.

By the end of 2003 I was already contemplating becoming a Vera Zvonarëva fan, but even after rewatching her French Open victory over Venus Williams I was not yet convinced that she was a spectacular player, or that she stood head and shoulders over other nice young players outside my fanship such as Tatiana Golovin, Karolina Šprem, Maria Kirilenko and Gisela Dulko.

So I followed Vera's progress throughout 2004 as a demi-fan - casually noting her presence in tournaments and taking pleasure in her success, without following her career obsessively or writing regular tournament-reviews. And I noted that she often remained in tournaments after all the players of whom I was already a fan had been knocked out; Vera even progressed further than the great Maria Sharapova on several occasions!

Vera beat Barbara Schett 6-1 6-4 in the first round of Gold Coast, then lost in the second 1-6 6-3 6-2 to Svetlana Kuznetsova - who started 2004 ranked #35 but finished it as the US Open champion! And it was a similar story at Sydney, where Vera beat Nicole Pratt 6-2 6-3 in the first round, but lost 1-6 6-2 7-5 to Lindsay Davenport, who would climb from #5 to #1 during 2004.

At the Australian Open, Vera thrashed Zuzana Ondrášková 6-3 6-1, outlasted Melinda Czink 7-5 6-4, and overcame Nicole Pratt 7-5 2-6 6-1. In the fourth round she lost again to Davenport, but this time it was a 6-1 6-3 drubbing that had Vera sobbing during changeovers in the second set.

Vera won the second WTA singles-title of her career at Memphis, beating Tathiana Garbin 6-1 7-5 and Gisela Dulko 6-3 6-4 to set up the semi-final I'd looked forward to all week against third seed Maria Sharapova. Vera won 7-6 6-2 and went on to win her only singles-title of 2004 by beating second seed Lisa Raymond 4-6 6-4 7-5 in the final after recovering from 2-5 in the third set and saving three match-points; Maria and Vera were runner-up in the doubles, losing to Ĺsa Svensson and Meilen Tu 6-4 7-6 in the final. Vera's singles-ranking rose to #11.

Vera withdrew from Acapulco with a left-hamstring injury. She reached the fourth round of Indian Wells by beating Marie-Gayanay Mikaelian 6-1 6-4 and Claudine Schaul 6-2 6-0, but was upset by Nathalie Dechy 2-6 6-2 6-2. At Miami she beat Tathiana Garbin 6-3 7-6, but lost to Jill Craybas 6-2 3-6 6-3 in the third round.

Moving onto her favoured claycourts, Vera beat Tina Pisnik 6-3 1-6 7-5 and Patty Schnyder 6-2 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of Amelia Island, but lost to the holder of three Major titles, Justine Henin-Hardenne, 6-4 6-3.

At Charleston she beat Séverine Beltrame 6-4 6-0 and Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi 6-0 3-6 6-3, but Venus Williams took a 6-3 6-4 claycourt-revenge on Vera in the quarter-finals. Moving onto European red clay, it was the same story at Warsaw as Vera beat Lenka Nemecková 6-1 6-3 and Smashnova-Pistolesi 6-3 7-5 before losing 6-3 6-2 to Venus Williams - this time in the semi-finals.

Vera was upset 6-1 6-7 6-1 by Fabiola Zuluaga in the second round at Berlin, but reached the first Tier I semi-final of her career at Rome, beating Dinara Safina 1-6 6-4 6-2, Elena Bovina 6-3 6-0 and Francesca Schiavone 6-3 6-3, and losing 6-2 6-3 to Amélie Mauresmo in the last four. Vera pulled out of Vienna for rest and recovery.

Returning to the French Open - the scene of her big breakthrough a year earlier - Vera thrashed Zuzana Kucová 6-0 6-2 in the first round, but looked mentally frail and "a shadow of her best" as she toiled past Magüi Serna 5-7 6-1 6-4 to set up a mouthwatering third-round showdown with Maria Sharapova, who overpowered her 6-3 7-6. Vera's ranking slipped to #14, but she passed the million-dollar mark in career-earnings.

Vera handled the transition from clay to grass well by reaching the semi-finals of Eastbourne, beating Nathalie Dechy 6-1 3-6 6-3 and Selesian player María Sánchez Lorenzo 6-3 6-0. She served for the match at 6-3 5-4 against second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova... who recovered for a 3-6 7-6 6-1 victory, and made a similar recovery against Daniela Hantuchová in the final. :-(

Vera repeated her fourth-round showing at Wimbledon, beating Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-4, Saori Obata 6-1 6-4, and winning a mouthwatering third-round match 6-4 6-2 over Gisela Dulko (conqueror of Jelena Dokic in the first round and of 47-year-old Martina Navrátilová in the second).
            In the fourth round, Vera lost 6-4 6-4 to 1999 champion Lindsay Davenport. The first set was unspectacular, but Vera hung in well to get four games. In the second set, she started hitting her groundstrokes 5mph faster (a very noticeable difference) and took a 3-0 lead (with one break). But as Davenport fought back, Vera sat at the 3-2 changeover with her face in her towel, crying really hard.

It was around this time that Vera appointed Lex Carrington as a full-time coach. Lex had been Vera's hitting-partner while she was living in Maryland with her old coach Julia Kashevarova, who is believed to be still coaching Vera in a reduced capacity.

Vera showed very impressive form during the American hardcourt-season. First she reached the quarter-finals at Los Angeles by beating Selesian player Marion Bartoli 6-2 6-3, and lost to top seed Serena Williams 4-6 6-3 6-3.

Vera won four matches to reach the semi-finals at San Diego, beating Nathalie Dechy 6-4 7-6, Selesian player María Sánchez Lorenzo 6-0 6-3 and US Open champ-to-be Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 6-3. Serena Williams gave her a walkover to the last four, where she lost 6-2 6-7 7-6 to French Open champion Anastasia Myskina in what many consider to be the best match of 2004. Vera had eight match-points in the 17/15 third-set tiebreak - the longest ever to decide a third set in WTA history - and nine match-points altogether. More tears from Vera, but she had much to be proud of.

Montréal was another highlight of 2004 for me, as it produced two more mouthwatering matches - both won by Vera. First she beat Selesian player Akiko Morigami 6-1 6-3 and Bethanie Mattek 6-2 7-6 to set up a third-round encounter with Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova. Vera won 4-6 6-4 6-4, and it was the first time in Maria's career that she ever lost to a lower-seeded player at any tournament where she herself had been seeded! It was a baseline duel of awesome quality, with Vera showing her ability to win points from seemingly irretrievable shots.
            This set up a quarter-final against the gorgeous Tatiana Golovin - a most intriguing match for me as I wasn't sure whether I was keener on Vera or Tatiana. Perhaps my feelings would have become clearer at 4-4 in a final set... but Vera showed that her tennis was as many times better than Tatiana's as Tatiana is sexier than her, by thrashing the 16-year-old 6-3 6-1. Vera lost 7-6 6-2 to second seed Amélie Mauresmo in the semi-finals.
            Vera entered the top ten for the first time in her career as her ranking shot up from #14 to #9.

Vera reached the final of Cincinnati, beating Antonella Serra Zanetti 6-4 7-6, Selesian qualifier Peng,Shuai 6-2 6-2, and Amy Frazier 3-6 7-6 6-1 (after saving two match-points). She was runner-up to top seed Lindsay Davenport 6-3 6-2. She withdrew from New Haven for rest and recovery.

At the US Open, Vera reached her third Major fourth round of the year by beating Henrieta Nagyová 6-1 6-1, Els Callens 6-3 6-3 and Fabiola Zuluaga 6-4 7-5. Then she had a bizarre emotional meltdown against eventual runner-up Elena Dementieva. Perhaps upset by the Beslan terrorist-attack (she was wearing a black ribbon), Vera was sobbing, shouting, throwing her racket against the court, and even hitting her own feet with her racket. She started losing it as early as 5-1 up in the first set, and lost 1-6 6-4 6-3. "You wouldn't see any fourth-round matches of a Grand Slam [sic] not emotional," she said!
            Vera won the US Open mixed-doubles title with Bob Bryan. They beat Nicole Pratt/Pavel Vizner 6-3 6-4, Chanda Rubin/Scott Humphries 7-6 6-4, Emmanuelle Gagliardi/Gaston Etlis 6-4 6-3, top seeds Rennae Stubbs and Daniel Nestor 7-5 6-3 and, in the final, Alicia Molik and Todd Woodbridge 6-3 6-4.
            Vera's singles-ranking dipped out of the top ten to #11, where she would finish 2004.

At Beijing, Vera played three matches with a score of 6-2 6-3: she beat Emmanuelle Gagliardi and Anabel Medina Garrigues, but lost to top seed Serena Williams. She lost to Elena Likhovtseva 6-3 7-5 in the first round of Filderstadt.

At Moscow, Vera thrashed Nathalie Dechy 6-0 6-2, and won a mouthwatering match with Karolina Šprem 4-6 6-2 6-3. She lost to Anastasia Myskina 4-6 6-0 7-5 in the quarter-finals. She lost to eventual champion Alicia Molik 6-3 5-7 6-2 in her opening match at Zürich. At Linz she beat Nathalie Dechy 7-6 6-4, but lost to Jelena Jankovic 6-4 6-4.
            Vera won the doubles-title at Moscow with Anastasia Myskina. They beat Daniela Hantuchová/Patty Schnyder 7-5 6-3, Janette Husárová/Magdalena Maleeva 6-1 6-4, Elena Bovina/Nadia Petrova 6-4 6-7 6-4, and top seeds Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez 6-3 4-6 6-2 in the final.

Vera went into Philadelphia knowing she was the last of four players with a chance of qualifying for the WTA Tour Championships the following week - the others were Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Jennifer Capriati. Vera flirted with disaster in her first-round match, saving a match-point as she edged past qualifier Sybille Bammer 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7/5). Then she beat Nathalie Dechy for the fifth time in six meetings in 2004, this time 2-6 6-3 6-4.
            This set up a quarter-final with the fourth-seeded Capriati. Whoever lost would miss out on the WTA Tour Championships. Vera rose to the occasion and annihilated Capriati 6-0 6-1, showing such power on her groundstrokes and serve as I'd never seen from her before. Capriati, playing in what could prove to have been the last match of her career, didn't put enough "juice" on the ball to hurt Vera's amazing retrieval-skills.
            When Venus Williams lost to Amélie Mauresmo in the quarter-finals, Vera immediately qualified for the WTA Tour Championships along with Serena Williams. She didn't have to win her semi-final against Nadia Petrova to qualify, but she did so anyway 6-3 7-6 (7/2). Vera had a bit of a tantrum as a 5-2 lead in the second became 5-5, but she played an amazing tiebreak with three aces in a row! But Vera missed out on a first Tier II (or higher) title when she lost an emotional final to top seed Mauresmo 3-6 6-2 6-2.

Vera's emotions got the better of her tennis on her début at the WTA Tour Championships (she was also playing for the sixth week in a row). She lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 6-4 and Amélie Mauresmo 6-1 6-0 in her first two round-robin matches, and tears streaked her face after these losses. But she put up terrific resistance against eventual champion Maria Sharapova in another high-quality encounter - their fourth of the year - which Maria won 6-4 7-5. Vera's tremendous fighting spirit wasn't quite enough to overcome Maria's 58 winners!

Vera was an integral part of the team that won the Fed Cup for Russia. In April, she beat Samantha Stosur 6-2 6-3 to give Russia an unassailable lead of 3:1 (the final score was 4:1) over Australia in the first round of the World Group.
            In July, it was Vera again who sealed the tie for Russia in the fourth rubber as she beat Mariana Diaz-Oliva 6-3 6-0; Russia defeated Argentina 4:1 overall to advance to the semi-finals.
            In November, Vera didn't play an active part in Russia's 5:0 win over Austria, presumably because her maternal grandmother (also named Vera) was ill and actually died on the Friday between the semi-finals and the final. But Vera returned for the final, partnering Anastasia Myskina in the deciding doubles-rubber with Russia tied at 2:2 against France. They defeated Emilie Loit and Selesian player Marion Bartoli 7-6 7-5 with "a kind of up-and-back system akin to multiple fire-fighting" [ACE Tennis magazine], saving three set-points at 5-6 in the first. It was Vera who had the honour of successfully serving for the match, sealing Russia's first-ever Fed Cup victory with an unreturned serve.

Following her hectic schedule of 2004, Vera endured a disappointing season, due to an energy-sapping viral infection (glandular fever) that wasn't diagnosed until August, when she suffered a left-ankle sprain serious enough to force her to miss the US Open. She did successfully defend her Memphis title, and enjoyed some success in doubles, but her singles-ranking slipped from #11 to #42 during 2005 as the viral infection robbed her of her greatest strength - her ability to fight to the bitter end.

Vera started the year with the Watson's Water Challenge exhibition-tournament in Hong Kong. She lost her first round-robin match 6-3 6-3 to US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, and lost her second match 6-2 4-6 7-5 to Venus Williams - after serving for the match at 5-4 in the third, as she had done (successfully) at the French Open 2003.

She lost 7-6 6-3 to Fabiola Zuluaga with a tearful display in the first round of Sydney. At the Australian Open she beat qualifier Liu,Nannan 6-4 6-2, but lost her second-round match 6-3 6-3 to Vera Douchevina (Dushevina) on a very hot day. I followed live scores, and our Vera put up so little of her usual resistance that I already perceived her to be struggling in hot climates - which of course now makes perfect sense in the light of her viral infection. She served 11 double faults against Douchevina.
            Vera reached the semi-finals of the women's doubles with Anastasia Myskina (losing to eventual champions Svetlana Kuznetsova and Alicia Molik), and the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles with Bob Bryan.

Vera cruised past María Emilia Salerni 6-1 6-3 and Anca Barna 6-2 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of Pattaya City. But there, in another hot climate, she lost 6-4 6-2 to Evgenia Linetskaya.

Vera successfully defended her title at Memphis - a cold climate. She beat Michaela Paštiková 6-3 6-1, Séverine Beltrame 7-6 6-3, Katerina Bondarenko 7-5 6-0, and scored a 6-4 6-1 revenge over Evgenia Linetskaya to reach the final. There she recovered from *0-3 (15/40) to beat Meghann Shaughnessy 7-6 (7/3) 6-2. "This was important for my career because it was the first time I defended a title," she said.
            Vera's serve was very much the barometer of her form in early 2005. She hardly served a double fault all week at Memphis - in stark contrast to her earlier tournaments in hot climates.

But Vera's upswing in fortunes was short-lived, as she withdrew from Indian Wells with strep-throat, then lost 3-6 6-3 6-1 to journeywoman Nuria Llagostera Vives in her opening match at Miami - another hot climate.
            Nevertheless, Vera was promoted from #11 to #10 in the rankings on 4th April as the inactive Jennifer Capriati's ranking-points continued to fall off. Thus began Vera's second separate stint in the top ten.

Moving onto clay with a lack of recent match-play, Vera struggled past Selesian player Peng,Shuai 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9/7) in her opening match at Amelia Island, beat Elena Likhovtseva 6-4 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals, but lost to Virginia Razzano by that same score.

At Charleston, beautiful Iveta Benešová took a wrecking-ball to Vera's confidence with a 6-4 4-6 7-5 victory after Vera had led *4-1 in the third set, and served for the match at 5-3, squandering three match-points.

Moving onto the red clay of Europe, Vera had the misfortune to be moved to the top-seeded position in the Warsaw draw to face rising star Ana Ivanovic, who played aggressive tennis to beat her 6-2 6-4. At Berlin she suffered an embarrassing 6-2 6-0 loss to veteran Kveta Peschke, although she won the doubles-title with Elena Likhovtseva, beating Cara Black and Liezel Huber 4-6 6-4 6-3 in the final.

In desperate need of a confidence-boost ahead of the French Open, Vera got her act together to reach the semi-finals of Rome for the second year in a row, beating Jelena Jankovic 6-4 6-1, Catalina Castańo 6-1 5-7 6-2 and Francesca Schiavone 7-5 7-6. Unfortunately she lost 6-2 6-4 to Amélie Mauresmo.
            Vera had needed to reach the semi-finals to stay in the top ten, but unfortunately she dropped from #10 to #11 anyway - displaced by Patty Schnyder, who reached the final.

Vera safely negotiated the first two rounds of the French Open, beating qualifiers Yvonne Meusburger and Eva Birnerová, 6-3 6-1 and 4-6 6-3 6-0 respectively. But circumstances conspired against her in the third round: the weather baking-hot, her opponent Mary Pierce - the 2000 champion now seeded 21st, but enjoying an astonishing resurgence that would take her all the way to the final. Vera led 5-2* and had set-point at 6-5* in the first, but lost 7-6 (7/2) 7-5.
            Vera's ranking slipped a place to #12.

Vera had a mouthwatering match - and a very dangerous-looking one - against powerful 16-year-old Nicole Vaidišová in the first round of Eastbourne. Nicole led 3-1 in the first set, but Vera adapted better to the windy conditions, and used her far greater grasscourt-experience to ease to a 6-3 6-2 victory.
            The second round looked comparatively easy against qualifier Roberta Vinci, but Vera came unstuck 6-2 7-6 against the old-school serve-volleyer. Ironically it was so cold that Vera played in a tracksuit.

At Wimbledon, however, Vera experienced England at its hottest, with temperatures up to 31°C in the shade! She made a dreadful start against off-form Marlene Weingärtner, but recovered her confidence and form to register a 2-6 6-4 6-0 victory. But in the second round she did the opposite, crashing out 1-6 6-4 6-3 to Kveta Peschke. She had a chance with Peschke serving at 1-6 4-4 (0/30), but then wilted in the most extreme heat I can ever remember in my life in England.
            I only got to watch Vera play in the women's doubles, where she and Elena Likhovtseva lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amélie Mauresmo in the quarter-finals.
            Vera dropped from #12 to #15 in the singles-rankings.

In the North American hardcourt-season where Vera had done so well in 2004, things went from bad to worse. She beat Meghann Shaughnessy 6-3 6-3 in the first round of Cincinnati, but lost to Selesian player Akiko Morigami 6-3 6-2 in the second. In the first round of Stanford she drew Shaughnessy again, but this time she lost 6-3 1-6 7-6 (8/6), wasting a match-point at 6/5 in the tiebreak.

At San Diego she lost 6-4 4-6 6-4 to Mashona Washington, but the biggest damage was done in the doubles. Vera and Elena Likhovtseva were leading Conchita Martínez and Virginia Ruano Pascual 3-1 (0/15) in the semi-finals when Vera sprained her left ankle and had to retire. It was so bad that she had to go to hospital, and walk on crutches with an air-cast on her foot.
            The injury kept Vera out of competition for seven weeks as she withdrew from Los Angeles, Toronto, the US Open and Beijing. During this time, her ranking dropped from #16 to #22.

Vera returned to action at Guangzhou, but was knocked out in the first round 6-3 7-5 by Li,Ting. Before the tournament began, she had posted on the guestbook at Zvonarëva.ru, "my ankle is much better, but i dont think its 100% yet, even though it wasn't bothering me during the practice."

She reached the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Japan Open, beating Catalina Castańo 6-2 7-6 and Shahar Pe'er 6-3 7-5, but lost 5-7 6-2 6-4 to the flairsomely-talented Sania Mirza. "I think I played well in the first set, but then I lost my concentration and couldn't get my game back," said Vera.

Vera beat Maria Kirilenko 6-2 6-3 in the battle of the home-town girls at Moscow, then lost 3-6 7-5 6-2 to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round. Both scorelines indicated that Vera was playing better than her ranking of #25.

But Vera's woes resumed at Zürich, where she retired with a right-shoulder injury when trailing 2-6 0-3 to Anastasia Myskina. She lost to her nemesis of 2005, Kveta Peschke, 7-5 7-5 in the first round of Linz, and with runner's-up points to defend at Philadelphia, she crashed out in the first round 7-5 6-3 to 16-year-old Sesil Karatantcheva. This marked four losses in a row for the third separate time in 2005.
            Vera's ranking, which had gradually slipped to #27 going into Philadelphia, plunged to #40 with the loss of her runner's-up points, and she finished the year ranked #42.

Vera qualified for the WTA Tour Championships in doubles with Elena Likhovtseva. The doubles started at the semi-final stage, and Vera/Elena lost to top seeds Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs 6-4 7-6 (7/4).

Although Vera failed to get back in the top twenty in 2006 (she rose from #42 to #24), I consider the year an overall success because she made a spectacular return to form in the summer, winning her fourth and fifth WTA singles-titles at Birmingham and Cincinnati, her second Major mixed-doubles title at Wimbledon, and her first women's-doubles Major title at the US Open! We saw a more mature Vera, whose on-court demeanour looked much happier and more relaxed - although the tears and tantrums still reared their pretty heads from time to time! ;-)

After winning Cincinnati, Vera said: "I'm still the same person, but now I feel a little more mature than when I was first in the top ten. I don't really know what my ranking is. It doesn't really matter to me. It's important for seedings, especially at the Grand Slams [sic]; like this year, I had Martina Hingis, Dinara Safina and Kim Clijsters in the first rounds. It's important so I don't play the top ten early. Other than that, it doesn't matter. Now I won two titles this year, so that says it."

Vera started the year on red-hot form, hitting winners all over the court as she reached the final of Auckland, beating Paola Suárez 6-2 6-3, Cho,Yoon Jeong 6-3 2-6 6-1, fourth seed Maria Kirilenko 6-2 6-0, and second seed Daniela Hantuchová 6-2 6-2 - I had waited a long time for Vera's first-ever meeting with Daniela, who unfortunately was exhausted after a three-set marathon the day before.
            Vera went into the final (her first since Memphis 2005) as the clear favourite against Marion Bartoli, who was contesting her first-ever WTA singles-final. But Vera had no answer to the Selesian's power and precision from the baseline, as Super Marion claimed the title with a 6-2 6-2 victory. Vera and Elena Likhovtseva won the doubles-title, beating Emilie Loit and Barbora Strýcová 6-3 6-4 in the final.
            The singles-final boosted Vera's ranking from #42 to #31.

Sadly, Vera's loss in the Auckland singles-final started a losing-streak which would extend to six matches. She suffered one of her infamous emotional meltdowns in the 40°C heat of Sydney as she lost 6-4 3-6 6-1 to Vera Dushevina. Her singles-ranking crawled up to #29 due to the movements of other players.

As the 30th seed at the Australian Open, Vera was incredibly unlucky to draw unseeded former champion Martina Hingis in the first round. Hingis had reached the final six years in a row (1997-2002): three titles followed by three runner's-up trophies. But she did not play professional tennis at all from October 2002 to January 2006 exclusive, due to persistent foot-injuries. Vera couldn't cope with the peerless guile and anticipation of Hingis as she crashed to a dispapsinating 6-1 6-2 loss.
            Vera reached the quarter-finals of both the women's doubles (with Elena Likhovtseva) and mixed doubles (with Bob Bryan) - which is a little disappointing since she was seeded third in both events.

Vera plumbed new depths as she lost to another player coming out of retirement, Paola Suárez, 6-1 6-3 in the first round of Pattaya. I've never seen her look more tearful than she did in the photos from that match. And her slump continued with a 2-6 7-5 6-3 loss to Selima Sfar - a journeywoman ranked #254 - at Dubai, and 6-4 6-4 to Li,Na at Doha.
            Her ranking crashed down to #49 after she elected not to defend her Memphis 2005 title in the week of Dubai.

Vera snapped her six-match losing-streak with an unexpected 6-4 6-2 win over Vera Dushevina in the first round of Miami, although she then lost 6-2 6-2 to eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.

At Amelia Island, it was observed that Vera had a new coach: she had replaced Lex Carrington with Samuel Sumyk. Vera began her claycourt-season with a 6-3 6-0 thrashing of veteran Mariana Diaz-Oliva, then lost 6-3 6-4 to rising star Anna-Lena Grönefeld.

At Charleston, Vera beat the beautiful and sexy Elena Vesnina 6-4 5-7 6-2, then lost 7-5 7-5 to Dinara Safina. She retired from her second-round doubles-match with a right-ankle sprain which also kept her out of Estoril.
            Her ranking climbed from #47 to #44 directly after Charleston.

Moving onto the red clay of Europe, Vera beat the adorable Gisela Dulko 3-6 6-2 6-2 in the first round of Berlin, then lost 6-1 7-6 to eventual champion Nadia Petrova - in the second round for the fourth tournament in a row.

Looking to reach the semi-finals at Rome for the third year in a row, Vera recovered to beat Shahar Pe'er 1-6 6-2 6-0, then thrashed 17th seed Nathalie Dechy 6-2 6-2 to win back-to-back singles-matches for the first time since Auckland. But in the third round she suffered the worst loss of her career: 6-0 6-1 to Romina Oprandi - a fat, slow-moving journeywoman ranked #133.
            Vera had already plummeted from #40 to #67 when her Rome 2005 points came off; she moved back up to #58 for reaching the quarter-finals, then down to #63 due to the movements of other players.

Vera had a very tough draw at the French Open against Dinara Safina, who had beaten Kim Clijsters, Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova en route to the Rome final. Vera lost 6-3 7-5, and to be honest I was relieved that it wasn't much worse. Her ranking dropped to #78 - her lowest since 2002.
            Vera reached the quarter-finals of the women's doubles (with Nathalie Dechy), and in the mixed doubles (with Andy Ram), she scored a notable 7-6 6-2 win over fifth seeds Rennae Stubbs and Todd Perry to reach the semi-finals, where they lost 6-4 6-2 to eventual champions Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonjic.

Vera hit top form to win her fourth WTA singles-title at Birmingham. She started by hammering Anne Kremer 6-0 6-1 and Martina Suchá 6-1 6-2 to set up a third-round match with Anna Chakvetadze that induced me to go to Birmingham one day earlier than planned to watch it! And I was rewarded with a mouthwatering match of flairsome power between the two ultracute Russians, as Vera upset the seventh seed 6-4 6-3.
            In the quarter-finals, Vera upset Francesca Schiavone 6-4 3-6 6-1 as the second seed's net-rushing tactics failed to pay dividends against Vera's lovely winners from the baseline.
            In the semi-finals, Vera made a dreadful start against Meilen Tu: a qualifier ranked #135, who just happens to be Samuel Sumyk's wife. Vera was 5-7 *1-4 down, but staged a dramatic recovery to win 5-7 6-4 6-3 in 2h08m under the hot sun. Vera said she was "very lucky to escape. I just had to keep fighting."
            This should have set up a mouthwatering final with two-time defending champion Maria Sharapova, but Maria failed to keep her end of the bargain as she lost 6-4 6-4 to Jamea Jackson in the second semi-final. So the final was between two unseeded players - but was a high-quality match nevertheless, Vera edging it 7-6 (14/12) 7-6 (7/5) after tightening up at 4-0* in the second set. "I'm much closer now to the form I had when my ranking was high," said Vera, who moved up from #78 to #47 as a result of winning the title.

Vera drew Anna Chakvetadze again in the first round of Eastbourne, and the sequel was even better than the original! Vera won 7-6 6-7 6-2 for the 200th singles-victory of her career, although she should have won the second set after breaking for *2-1 and squandering her fourth break-point at 4-4* by netting a forehand that should have been an easy putaway. But Anna deserved a set for her flairsome contribution to both matches. Anna was crying as she came out from the changeover at *2-5 in the third, and she burst into tears when she lost.
            Unfortunately Vera had to retire at *0-3 down against Kim Clijsters in the second round. Some sources described her injury as a right-achilles strain, others as injured toes - in the photos I took, the physio appeared to be working on both parts of her right foot.

For the third Major in a row, Vera had a desperately unlucky first-round draw at Wimbledon: this time against second seed Kim Clijsters. But it was a high-quality match of breathtaking rallies, Vera doing well to withstand some blistering form from Clijsters. It was suspended overnight for rain with Clijsters about to serve for the first set at 5-4; Vera came out the next day and broke back, but ultimately went down 7-5 6-3. She dropped from #44 to #52 in the rankings.
            Clijsters said, "She surprised me a lot with the way she was moving. She defended really well. Vera is a good player, and soon will be back to where she was before injury."
            Vera won her second Major mixed-doubles title with Andy Ram. After a first-round bye, they beat Eleni Daniilidou/Chris Haggard 6-4 2-6 6-4 and Martina Navrátilová/Mark Knowles 7-5 6-1 - Vera hit the serve that forced 49-year-old Navrátilová to miss the last-ever shot of a glittering Wimbledon-career that had started in 1973, when Vera was minus-eleven years old!
            In the quarter-finals, Vera and Andy beat Anna-Lena Grönefeld/František Cermák 6-3 6-4, and in the semi-finals, they battled past Cara Black and her brother Wayne 6-3 7-6 (7/5).
            Vera and Andy claimed the title with an absolutely brilliant, uninhibited performance in the final to beat Venus Williams/Bob Bryan 6-3 6-2. Vera was in sparkling form from the baseline and hit some wonderful lobs, while Andy complemented her game with some dynamic net-play. The commentators couldn't stop praising Vera: "tremendous power and variety", "like quicksilver", and "she ought to wrap this form up and take it with her wherever she goes." Vera had the honour of serving for the title, and she sealed it with an ace!

Vera did indeed seem to have wrapped up her form from the Wimbledon mixed-doubles final and taken it with her as she won Cincinnati for the loss of just 18 games! That set the record for the fewest games lost in winning a singles-title on the WTA Tour in 2006, although year-end #1 Justine Henin-Hardenne broke it by winning New Haven for the loss of 17 games (but Henin had a bye in the first round and a retirement in the final!).
            Vera started her Cincinnati-campaign with a 6-3 6-0 thrashing of gorgeous Tatiana Golovin: the seventh seed. Vera trounced Varvara Lepchenko 6-0 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals, where she hammered fifth seed Jelena Jankovic 6-1 6-1 (Jankovic went on to reach the US Open semi-finals, where she led Henin-Hardenne 6-4 *5-2 (40/30)... then lost every single game left in the match).
            In the semi-finals, Vera beat the mighty Serena Williams 6-2 6-3. Williams made "about a thousand" unforced errors, and couldn't cope with the consistency of Vera, who only made 6 UEs (all in the second set). Williams was the only player all week to keep Vera on court for more than 58 minutes!
            But it was fourth seed Katarina Srebotnik who won the most games against Vera, as Vera won the final 6-2 6-4. Vera dominated the match with the depth of her groundstrokes, which made it difficult for Srebotnik to hit winners (she hit 14 winners to Vera's 22). Vera said that her matches here were much tougher than the scorelines imply, as a tennis-match can turn at any time.
            The Cincinnati-title boosted Vera's ranking from #50 to #37.

Vera played Katarina Srebotnik again in the first round of Stanford, and upset the eighth seed 6-4 6-3. In the second round, she improved her head-to-head over Nathalie Dechy to 7:1 with a 7-6 6-0 victory, which extended Vera's winning-streak to 14 straight sets! In the quarter-finals, she lost 6-2 3-6 6-1 to Kim Clijsters - the only player in Vera's five tournaments since the French Open to beat her.

At San Diego, Vera upset 13th seed Ai Sugiyama 6-1 7-5. In the second round, she recovered from 3-6 1-4* against Peng,Shuai - the Selesian who had beaten Kim Clijsters here last year - to take the second set on a tiebreak in which Peng had led 5/3*; Vera won it 7/5, whereupon Peng retired with heat-exhaustion. Vera showed her compassion by putting ice on Shuai's head.
            This set up a mouthwatering match with Maria Sharapova - their first since the WTA Tour Championships 2004. Maria moved ahead 3:2 in their head-to-head by winning the third-round match 6-4 6-4 after Vera had fought back from *1-5 to 4-5* in the second set. Maria went on to win the title, and to compile a magnificent 27:2 win/loss record from the start of this tournament to the end of the year.
            Vera withdrew from the doubles with a left-wrist sprain that had been bothering her since Cincinnati (even though she won the title there). She also pulled out of Los Angeles and Montréal with the injury, and had to miss New Haven because she was too late to apply for a wild card.
            Vera went into the US Open with a ranking of #34.

Vera avoided a calendar-year Grand Slam of first-round losses - and inflicted one on Marta Domachowska by beating her 7-6 6-3 at the US Open. She then beat Jill Craybas 6-3 7-5 in a scrappy second-round match, saving break-points that would have put her 0-3* or 4-5* down in the second set.
            I thought it was reprehensible that Vera had to play two doubles-matches the day before she faced fourth seed Elena Dementieva in the third round! In a match littered with breaks of serve, Vera put up a passive performance to lose 7-5 6-3, and apparently was in tears again. Her ranking rose to #29.
            Having lost with Andy Ram in the first round of the mixed doubles, Vera won her first Major women's doubles title - and third Major title overall - with Nathalie Dechy. It was only their fourth tournament together, and they were unseeded. They beat Kaia Kanepi/Gabriela Navrátilová 7-5 1-6 6-3, Daniela Hantuchová/Ai Sugiyama 3-6 6-4 6-2, and Maret Ani/Meilen Tu 6-4 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals. There Vera celebrated her 22nd birthday by beating seventh seeds Virginia Ruano Pascual/Paola Suárez - who have won eight Major titles together - 7-5 6-3. In the semi-finals, they beat sixth seeds Kveta Peschke/Francesca Schiavone 6-4 6-1.
            In the final, they beat eighth seeds Dinara Safina/Katarina Srebotnik 7-6 (7/5) 7-5. In the first set, Vera and Nathalie recovered from 3-5*, saving three set-points on Vera's serve at *4-5 (0/40). They also recovered from *1/5 in the tiebreak! In the second set, Vera and Nathalie were 3-4* down, but secured the title by breaking Srebotnik at 6-5* to love. Vera said: "That's what we work for, 20 years, to play in front of the crowd, in the centre court of the Grand Slam [sic] in the finals. It's a great opportunity. No matter how you play, you just got to enjoy."

Vera pulled out of Bali, citing a "change of schedule". Her performance at Beijing was a far cry from her spectacular summer as she lost in the first round to world #111 Sun,Tiantian 6-4 1-6 6-2 with tears, tantrums and nine double faults.
            In doubles at Beijing, Vera and Peng,Shuai upset top seeds Yan,Zi and Zheng,Jie - the reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champions - 4-6 6-3 6-3 in the first round. Then Vera pulled out of the tournament with an upper respiratory illness.

Vera got back on track at Seoul with easy wins against two journeywomen: Camille Pin 6-1 6-2; Emma Laine 6-4 6-0. I fancied Vera's chances of winning the title, but she fell to dangerous Eleni Daniilidou 7-6 6-4 in the quarter-finals.

At Moscow, our Vera beat Vera Dushevina 6-3 6-2, serving out the match to love with four unreturnable serves! In the second round, she thrashed world #4 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1 6-3 for the second-best match-win of her career up to that point (following her win over #3 Venus Williams at the French Open 2003). Kuznetsova had won the singles-titles at Bali and Beijing, but here she looked weary and disinterested - not to take anything away from Vera, who played brilliantly (I've got parts of the match on video). Vera lost to on-form Nadia Petrova 7-5 6-1 in the quarter-finals, and pulled out of Zürich for rest and recovery.
            "I have changed my racket because of the problems with my shoulder – I just couldn't play with the same racket last half of the year. Now it's better with my shoulder, but now I feel some pain in my [left] hand." [Source: exclusive interview for Zvonarëva.ru]
            Vera jumped up two places in the rankings to #27.

Vera beat eighth seed Francesca Schiavone 5-7 6-1 6-3 in the first round of Linz, but she didn't play well against an opponent who was struggling with a right-calf injury. She now leads Schiavone 5:0 head-to-head.
            In the second round, Vera lost the first set 6-4, and saved three match-points at *4-5 and *5-6 in the second set against Mary Pierce, but as Vera won the point to make it 6-6, Mary ruptured the front cruciate ligament in her left knee and collapsed, screaming in agony. Vera was the first to reach Mary with ice, and was widely praised for her compassion. Mary conceded the match, and following surgery, the then-31-year-old has yet to return to the Tour (I last updated this sentence at the end of 2007).
            In the quarter-finals, Vera lost to Patty Schnyder for the first time in three meetings: 7-6 6-4.

Vera closed her 2006 season by reaching the semi-finals of Hasselt, beating Vera Dushevina 7-6 6-1, Kirsten Flipkens 6-3 6-4 and Aravane Rezaď 7-6 6-2. She lost to top seed Kim Clijsters 6-4 3-6 6-4, but it was a very high-quality match according to those who saw it - quite possibly the best that Vera has ever played in defeat. This finalised their head-to-head at 0:5, as Clijsters retired from tennis in May 2007.

Vera's ranking had been climbing gradually from #27 after Moscow, and she finished the year ranked #24.

The left-wrist injury that Vera had been nursing since Cincinnati 2006 finally caught up with her in April, forcing her off the Tour for four months (missing the French Open and Wimbledon, and not being able to defend her singles-titles at Birmingham and Cincinnati).

Nevertheless, Vera recorded some very decent results in the 14 tournaments she did play: she repeated her final-appearance at Auckland, reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, scored her first-ever victory against a reigning world #1 in beating Maria Sharapova to reach the quarter-finals of Indian Wells, and reached the semi-finals of Charleston with her second win of the year over rising superstar Ana Ivanovic - it was at this tournament that her wrist flared up.

Vera enjoyed some more success after her comeback: she immediately reached the third round of the US Open, reached two more semi-finals by the end of the year, and finally got the better of Amélie Mauresmo en route to the quarter-finals of Moscow.

Having started the year at #24, Vera spent 19 weeks in the top 20 from February to July, and finished the year at #22 (having been as low as #30 in mid-August). But compared to 2006, I'm disappointed in her year: she didn't win a singles-title, having won at least one every year from 2003 to 2006. And her doubles-results were vastly inferior to 2006, as she only managed an 11:9 win/loss record without reaching a final (her singles-record for the year was 30:14).

Vera began 2007 as she did 2006: by reaching the final of Auckland. Moreover, she saved the tournament from being axed in 2008, with her strong words against the elitist restructuring of the WTA Tour that would have made it much harder for young talents to break through. "The future of tennis is about all players on the Tour - not just about top 10 or top 20. If the amount of tournaments reduce, it reduces the chances for younger players coming up. It looks like tennis is dying."
            Conditions were windy all week, and Vera's first match of the year was a very tough one, as she had to save many break-points to hold off #118-ranked qualifier Lilia Osterloh 5-7 6-2 6-3. The second round was considerably easier as Vera beat Laura Granville 6-4 6-1, although many games went to deuce.
            In the quarter-finals, Vera was leading qualifier Virginie Razzano 7-5 2-0* when the latter retired with a low-back strain. "I was really happy the way I hung in there," said Vera. "Maybe it was not my best tennis, but it was more important to fight for every point."
            In the semi-finals, Vera avenged her Miami 2004 defeat with a 6-3 7-5 win over Jill Craybas - Vera recovered from *1-4 and 3-5* in the second, and won the match on a dead netcord. Vera said: "It was a really tough match. I always had to play aggressively, and I always had to play my game. I had to take my chances, especially when I was 4-1 and 5-3 down in the second set. I am certainly improving - especially from my first match, where in the first set I was struggling a little bit and I couldn't find my rhythm."
            In the final, Vera lost a 2h43m marathon 7-6 (11/9) 5-7 6-3 to top seed Jelena Jankovic, who would rise from #12 to a year-end #3. Vera had a *4-2 lead in the first set, and two set-points in the tiebreak (*8/7 and 9/8*). In a break-strewn second set, Vera overpowered a tiring Jankovic, who was struggling with painful feet. But Vera allowed Jankovic to save four break-points and hold serve in the first game of the third, and where was Vera's momentum after that? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.
            Vera said: "She played unbelievable today, and she deserved to win. Even though we had tough conditions to play - with the wind this week and cool weather - she played some great tennis."

I could have told Vera it was a mistake to play Sydney just two days after that 2h43m marathon, and she drew a very dangerous opponent in #27-ranked wild card Samantha Stosur: a serve-volleyer who usually comes up with her best at home in Australia. Vera lost 6-1 6-4.

At the Australian Open, Vera reached her first fourth round of a Major since the US Open 2004. She began with a 6-3 6-4 victory over world #121 Tzipora Obziler. In the second round, she thrashed the very talented 16-year-old Tamira Paszek - then a #187-ranked qualifier - 6-1 6-3, breaking from 6-1 3-3* (0/40*).
            In the third round, Vera surprised a lot of people with a 6-1 6-2 hammering of 13th seed Ana Ivanovic: the brilliant 19-year-old who would rise from #14 to a year-end #4. Vera matched Ana's power, excelled in defence, and won 8 games in a row (from *2-1 to 6-1 *4-0) as she won in just 51 minutes against an impatient Ana.
            Vera: "I kept the same pace and didn't give her much to counter. You have to fight for every point, use your chances to stay aggressive, serve well, put the pressure on her return."
            Ana: "It's not always that you have physical problems when you lose! I have to give her credit. She played very good and served really well."
            This set up a mouthwatering fourth-round match against top seed Maria Sharapova, and being on the Rod Laver Arena evening-session - the only one televised by the BBC - it was time for them to put the "vera" back in "coverage"! ;-)
            The first set was very tight, competitive and exciting, and the only break came against Vera in the 11th game as Maria won 7-5. Vera threw in a bad service-game at the start of the second, burst into tears, and it all went rather flat after that - although Maria did throw Vera a lifeline when she failed to serve it out at *5-2 and Vera saved a match-point at *3-5 (30/40), Maria served out a 7-5 6-4 victory after an amazing game of three deuces at *5-4, in which Maria recovered from 0/40.
            With this win, Maria led Vera 4:2 head-to-head. Maria said: "I knew she was going to be a challenge. I just had to go out there and step up to it. I felt like I needed to come up with something better than I did in my previous rounds. I felt like I was a lot looser. I was going for my shots a bit more."
            Vera went up from #24 to #21 in the rankings.

Just as Vera lost to Samantha Stosur in the first round of the tournament the week before the Australian Open, so it was in the week after, although at the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open, at least it was much closer as Stosur won 6-4 6-7 (4/7) 6-4 (Vera led *4-3 in the first set and 4-3* in the third). Stosur is a serve-volleyer with a big serve, so the fast carpet at Tokyo would have suited her game very well.

Vera thrashed #123-ranked qualifier Lilia Osterloh 6-1 6-0 in 37 minutes in the first round of Antwerp - a stark contrast to their match at Auckland!
            In the second round, she came up against #7-ranked compatriot Nadia Petrova - fresh off a tournament-win in Paris - and lost 7-6 (7/2) 6-4. Petrova took a medical time-out for "apparent stomach-pain" when Vera was about to serve for the first set at *5-4, and Vera couldn't convert two break-points at 4-5* in the second. She went home nursing a back-injury, a sore throat, and a cold that she had picked up in Australia.
            Vera would have risen to #20 - back in the top 20 for the first time since September 2005 - but for Tatiana Golovin's run to the semi-finals. As it was, Vera only had to wait one week to reach that landmark on 26th February.

Vera reached the quarter-finals of Indian Wells with her first-ever victory over a reigning world #1. In the second round (after a bye), she was 2-5 down in the first set, but dropped only one more game in the match as she beat Jill Craybas 7-5 6-1!
            In the third round, Vera had a much easier match than some expected against the hard-hitting, loud-grunting former junior #1 Victoria Azarenka - a qualifier ranked #76 - though Vera needed 4 match-points to seal her win, including one at *5-2 (40/30) which she wasted with a double fault.
            This set up a mouthwatering fourth-round match with world #1 and defending champion Maria Sharapova. Maria led 6-4 5-3*... then lost 8 games in a row as Vera won 4-6 7-5 6-1! It was Vera's third win in seven meetings with Maria, and the first time that Vera had ever beaten a reigning world #1 - and it cost Maria the #1 ranking, which she had held for seven consecutive weeks for a career-total of 14 weeks. Maria served 13 double faults, was broken in 8 of her 14 service-games, and finished the tournament with a total of 144 unforced errors - one gross, if I may use the expression! ;-) Not to take anything away from Vera's superb fighting-spirit and supreme talent!
            Maria: "It's strange. Serving for the match, the only unforced error I really made was a swing-volley. After that, I just deflated a little bit. I wasn't moving well at all, I missed a lot of first serves, and that obviously gives your opponent so much confidence. Sometimes you run into someone who's a great competitor. She just started swinging, and wasn't making a lot of errors. Her balls were getting deeper and deeper as the match went on."
            Vera: "I didn't really pay attention to the score that much. I was concentrating on every point, trying to get my game together, and I was just fighting for every point. I think that's why I was able to turn it around. I've beaten Maria in the past as well, so we always had tough matches. When I look back at it, I would say, 'Yeah, I was pretty good in tennis. I beat a number-one player in the world.' I would love to see that I did everything I could to be the best player I can - that's the most important thing."
            In the quarter-finals the following day, Vera was the one who choked, as she lost 6-4 7-5 to world #17 Li,Na in extreme heat. Vera led 4-2 (30/0) in the first set and 5-1 in the second, then lost it with 6 games in a row! She missed three set-points (two at 5-4, and one with a double fault). Li said: "At 5-1, I noticed the balls were coming back slower."

In the second round of Miami, Vera beat her good friend Meilen Tu (the wife of her coach Samuel Sumyk) 6-4 6-2 - a much more straightforward victory than at Birmingham 2006, where Vera was down 5-7 *1-4 and won!
            This set up only her second career-meeting with Daniela Hantuchová in the third round. And it was a similar story to their first meeting, as Vera blew Daniela away with a brilliant performance of power, accuracy, lateral retrieval and good serving: 6-2 6-4. But Daniela might not have won Indian Wells if Vera hadn't knocked out Maria in the fourth round there!
            In the fourth round here, I thought new world #1 Justine Henin was ripe for the upset as she had been 1-5* down in the third set against Virginie Razzano the day before, and rarely does well at Miami. Vera even got the first break against Henin. They played some high-quality rallies, but unfortunately Henin always seemed to find the upper hand. Vera tried to spread Henin, but whenever Vera came to the net to finish off a good point, she got passed. Henin extended her head-to-head against Vera to 4:0 by inflicting the most comprehensive of those four defeats: 6-3 6-2.
            Vera moved up from #20 to #19 in the rankings, albeit only for one week.

Vera pulled out of Amelia Island (week of 2nd April) with asthma, but the bigger problem was her left wrist. Vera had been struggling with her wrists since Cincinnati 2006, and although she'd had good results since then, she was often to be seen with an ice-bag on her left wrist after matches. And although she reached her first Tier I semi-final since Rome 2005 at Charleston, her left wrist flared up so badly that she had to retire.
            In the first round of Charleston, Vera beat her doubles-partner Nathalie Dechy for the 8th time in a row: 6-4 6-4, winning each set by two breaks to one. In the second round, she extended her head-to-head over Meilen Tu to 3:0 with a yet more one-sided victory: 6-1 6-3 in 59 minutes.
            In the third round, Vera repeated her Australian Open stomping of rising star Ana Ivanovic (who would reach the French Open final and rise from #17 to a year-end #4): this time 6-3 6-3 in 1h02m. Vera said: "She's obviously a very talented player, and I don't know if it's experience or what, but I just tried to concentrate on myself. She does have a big serve, and I just tried to focus on the ball maybe a little more. And I think my return was pretty good."
            In the quarter-finals, Vera beat 18-year-old Michaëlla Krajícek - conqueror of top seed Nicole Vaidišová - 6-1 7-5, although she wasted four match-points at *5-4, including 40/0. But her left wrist flared up in that match, after which she scratched from her doubles quarter-final. She said: "I had this problem for a while, and I've just been battling it since the beginning of this week a little bit more, and I really felt it two days ago. And today is just much worse, and I think if I tried to play my doubles, I won't be able to come back on the court tomorrow for sure. I'll get everything I can to recover, and then we'll see what's going to happen tomorrow."
            What happened was that Vera retired from her semi-final against fellow Russian Dinara Safina. Vera's wrist was so bad that she went out of her way to avoid hitting her two-handed backhand, and after struggling through the first set in pain and tears, she retired at 3-6 1-0. "It was hurting really bad just in the beginning and the middle of the first set. It was really tough to compete, and then it got to the point where there's no chance I could do anything, because I couldn't hit my backhands, and at this top level of tennis, you just cannot do it."

With much debate about wrist-surgery going on in the Vera Zvonarëva community at this time, she saw a wrist-specialist in New York on 16th April. She sought many opinions, and with the French Open looming on 27th May, she put off making a decision about surgery for as long as possible. On 21st May, she pulled out of the French Open. On 5th June, it was decided that surgery was unnecessary, but that Vera would have to spend at least three weeks with her left wrist in a cast before resuming training, hence she was unable to defend her singles-title at Birmingham or her mixed-doubles title at Wimbledon. It was a big blow to me as a Vera-fan, as these six weeks are my best chance of watching her play live. She also missed out on defending her Cincinnati-title as her absence extended to a total of 19 weeks (from 14th April to 27th August exclusive).
            In this time, Vera's ranking dropped from #20 to #28 (she actually spent six weeks at #19 in absentia from 14th May, as retired world #5 Kim Clijsters was removed from the rankings, but Vera dipped as low as #30 on 13th August), so all credit to her for getting it back up to #22 by the end of the year!

Vera's comeback was a pretty impressive one considering the duration of her lay-off, as she beat #159-ranked qualifier Alina Jidkova 6-0 6-7 (5/7) 6-0 in the first round of the US Open, beat #59 Elena Likhovtseva 6-4 6-2 in the second round, and it took Australian Open champion Serena Williams to stop her 6-4 7-6 (7/4) after 1h59m in the third round. Vera matched Williams from the baseline, and was even a break up early in the second set. Vera saved three match-points from 1/6 in the tiebreak. Serena was her usual gracious self in her press-conference: "I was upset after the match. I didn't feel that I played the greatest at all."
            Vera played women's doubles with Ashley Harkleroad rather than defending her title with Nathalie Dechy (who won the 2007 title with Dinara Safina), but she scratched from the second round with a low-back injury the day after her singles-loss.
            Vera dropped one place in the singles-rankings to #29.

Vera beat world #135 Olivia Sánchez 6-3 6-3 in the first round of Portorož, then beat Nathalie Dechy for the ninth time in a row: Vera led 6-0 3-0, but perhaps got a little complacent before securing a 6-0 5-7 6-4 victory!
            In the quarter-finals, she lost the battle of the Veras as Dushevina beat her 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7/3) to narrow Zvonarëva's lead in their head-to-head to 4:3. Dushevina broke 5 times from 6 break-points as our Vera struggled with her own first serve, and Dushevina sealed victory with an ace.
            Vera's ranking rose from #29 to #27.

Vera reached the first semi-final of her comeback at the Tier II in Luxembourg. In the first round, she beat #142-ranked qualifier Julia Görges 6-7 (4/7) 6-4 6-2. In the second round, she upset world #16 Shahar Pe'er 4-6 6-1 6-4. In the quarter-finals, she beat 18-year-old Victoria Azarenka 6-1 7-6 (7/5), recovering from 2/4 in the tiebreak.
            In the semi-finals, Ana Ivanovic - now up to #6 in the world - took revenge for the Australian Open and Charleston by beating Vera 6-4 6-2 to level their head-to-head at 2:2. Ana went on to win the final over Daniela Hantuchová.
            Vera jumped from #27 to #24 in the rankings.

In the first round of her hometown tournament at Moscow, Vera beat Amélie Mauresmo for the first time in their eight meetings. Vera won 4-6 6-3 6-4 despite a *0-4 start, scoring the crucial break at 4-4* in the third.
            Mauresmo may have fallen from #1 to #11 in the space of a year, but in Vera's own words, "Finally I was able to beat her; it feels great. I was very unconfident in the beginning; I didn't know what to expect from my opponent. But then I found my rhythm, began playing actively, advanced to the net, and that gave me the edge. Today, neither of us showed her best tennis. But the most important thing is that I fought for every point, and tried to seize all my opportunities."
            18-year-old Agnieszka Radwanska had upset Maria Sharapova at the US Open, but she was no match for Vera, who overpowered her 6-2 6-2 in the second round.
            In the quarter-finals, Vera lost 6-2 3-6 6-3 to compatriot Dinara Safina, then wrote in her diary that she didn't like the surface (Supreme). She also wrote some strong words against Safina: "You can get mad, upset or happy, but you don't do it towards your opponent's face. I think Dinara didn't respect me as an opponent yesterday, so I didn't see the reason to shake her hand."
            Safina also beat Vera in the first round of the doubles at Moscow, when Vera was playing with Anna Chakvetadze for the first time. The good news is that this delightful partnership looks set to continue in 2008 - not such good news for the groundstaff, I suppose, as these two crybabies could create their own rain-delay! ;-)

In the first round of Zürich, Vera beat Karin Knapp 5-7 6-2 6-2. In the second round, she was beaten 6-3 6-1 by dominant world #1 Justine Henin, who was already on a 16-match winning-streak that at the end of the year would be still alive at 25. More impressive than the scoreline was that Vera detained Henin for 1h14m - and that this was the only tournament since Antwerp that she had failed to get past the second round (in singles).
            Vera pulled out of Linz the following week with a right-shoulder injury.

Vera ended her season with a run to the semi-finals at Québec City. She extended her head-to-head against world #111 Catalina Castańo to 3:0 with a 6-2 6-4 first-round victory. In the second round, Vera beat Séverine Brémond 6-3 7-6 (8/6) - Vera was 3-5 down in the second set and 3/6 in the tiebreak! In the quarter-finals, she thrashed Olga Poutchkova 6-2 6-1.
            In the semi-finals, Vera came up against former world #1 Lindsay Davenport, who had returned to the Tour in September after taking almost a year out to give birth to her son. Davenport had won her first tournament back (Bali), and also won this - the third tournament of her comeback - with Vera giving her by far her toughest match of the week: 6-2 6-7 (3/7) 6-3. Davenport said: "I was excited to play someone of her level; she's ranked in the 20s now, but she was top ten for a little while. I had fun out there."
            Vera's ranking, which had oscillated between #24, #23 and #22 since Luxembourg, settled at #23 as the WTA Tour went into the off-season, although she went up to #22 on 19th November when retired world #19 Martina Hingis was removed from the rankings.

Vera enjoyed what I consider to be the best year of her career by some margin. She won two WTA singles-titles (Prague and Guangzhou) from eight finals - the most finals of any player in 2008. She won an Olympic Bronze Medal, was on the winning Fed Cup team for the second time in her career (the first being in 2004), and 2008 was the first year that she finished in the top ten, as she finished at a new career-high ranking of #7.

Vera's win/loss record of 65:22 gave her the most match-wins of any player in 2008 other than year-end #1 Jelena Jankovic (who also won 65), and no other player played 87 main-draw WTA matches in 2008. Vera won many of her matches very one-sidedly: she won 16 sets 6-0 - more bagels than any other player in 2008. She also did well in three-setters (19:8).

Arguably the best tournament of Vera's career so far (given that she hasn't won a singles-title higher than Tier III, although she has won three Majors in mixed and women's doubles) came at the Sony Ericsson Championships at Doha. Qualifying for only the second time in her career (the first being in 2004), she went in with a 3:10 record against top-eight players for the year, but came out at 7:11 after beating Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva to reach the final!

The only downsides to Vera's year were poor results in the Majors (5:4, including fourth round at the French Open), a mid-season slump that included the English grasscourt-season and the American hard-court summer, poor results in doubles by the standards of a three-time Major winner (15:10), and inadequate media-attention - especially from the BBC, who only showed one of her matches (second round of Wimbledon) all year. It's high time they put the "vera" back in "coverage"!

Vera: "I think if I look back at my year, I would say it was a successful year overall, even though I had some ups and downs. But I think I'm a much more experienced and mature player now, so that helps a lot. And, of course, my coach [Samuel Sumyk] and me, we did hard work and he taught me a lot. We wanted to improve everything - my game overall - and I hope we are doing a good job."

Vera enjoyed a nice easy start to the year in the first round of Auckland, as she thrashed 17-year-old Sacha Jones - a local wild card ranked #325 in the world - 6-0 6-1. "It was a bit windy out there, as usual, but it was a good start to the year for me," said Vera.
            Vera won her second round 6-2 6-3 over world #98 Sofia Arvidsson, but in the quarter-finals, she came a cropper against #153-ranked wild card Marina Erakovic: 6-3 2-6 7-6(5), thereby failing to repeat her Auckland-finals of 2006 and 2007. Vera led 4-2 in the third set, but a dead netcord gave Erakovic *6/5 in the tiebreak, and that was that.
            I don't feel too bad about Vera losing to Erakovic, whom I watched as she reach the semi-finals of Birmingham 2008, and who showed quick movement here. But Vera let herself down with unforced errors and poor serving, was angered by a series of line-calls, and lost her composure against Erakovic, who said, "She got a bit upset with some line-calls, and I took advantage."
            Vera slipped one place to #23 in the rankings, as she and Lucie Šafárová traded places.

Vera reached the final of Hobart, only to have to withdraw with a left-ankle injury. In the first round, she thrashed Olga Poutchkova 6-3 6-0, and in the second round, Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-3 6-2. In the quarter-finals, Vera saw off Elena Vesnina 6-3 6-3. "I think I did pretty good," she said. "It was a tough match, but I am happy to get through."
            In the semis, Vera thrashed Ashley Harkleroad 6-2 6-1 in less than an hour, during which she ran the #66-ranked qualifier around the court with pinpoint-drives from the baseline. Vera said: "I was preparing for a really tough match, and actually it was a tough match: the score seems to be much easier, but we had really good rallies."
            This set up a final against unseeded world #42 Eleni Daniilidou, but sadly, Vera went over on her left ankle while practising just two hours before the Friday final, which she was therefore unable to play. Attending her press-conference on crutches, Vera said: "I could barely walk. It was painful right away and I thought, 'Oh my God, I have to pack my bags and go home.'"
            Vera went back up to #22 in the rankings at Lucie Šafárová's expense.

Vera had X-rays on her left ankle to eliminate the possibility of broken bones, and had an MRI-scan on Saturday, but sadly she did not have time to recover for the Australian Open, where she had to play 32-year-old world #41 Ai Sugiyama on Monday evening. Vera lasted just 38 minutes as she retired at 3-6 1-1*.
            For failing to defend her 2007 fourth-round, she slipped to #26 in the rankings. She was sidelined for four weeks, pulling out of Paris and Antwerp.

Vera reached her second final of the year at Doha (no - not yet the Sony Ericsson Championships!). She came through the first three rounds with little media-attention, beating Anastasia Rodionova 6-0 6-3, world #23 Francesca Schiavone 2-6 6-3 6-4, and #15 Dinara Safina 7-5 6-3.
            In the quarter-finals, Vera was 2-6 0-1* down against world #19 Sybille Bammer, but Bammer got tired, and Vera dropped just one more game in a 2-6 6-2 6-0 victory!
            Vera also recovered from a set and a break down in her semi-final against Li,Na, against whom she had a 0:2 head-to-head. Vera trailed 3-6 1-2*, but won 9 points in a row as her ability to create angles and colourful counter-attacks began to pay off. She was 0-2 down in the third, but won the last 4 games for the loss of just 6 points to reach her first-ever Tier I final.
            Vera: "It was a really tough match. I played her a couple of times before and I lost, so it was very important for me to stay in the match, even though I lost the first set. I just kept fighting and was staying aggressive, and didn't give her a chance to dictate, and it worked out."
            This set up a mouthwatering final with Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova, who went into the final 13 matches into a winning-streak that would stretch to 18. Maria won 6-1 2-6 6-0 to extend their head-to-head to 5:3. Vera, of course, would go on to make another final at Doha later in 2008 - at the season-ending championships! Vera was only ranked #27 to Maria's #5 going into Doha, but Vera would finish the year at #7 - two places above Maria.
            The game at 6-1 *2-5 felt very important at the time, as Maria saved four set-points (including 0/40) and had two game-points before Vera was fifth time lucky to take the second set. But Maria rampaged through the third in 20 minutes, dropping just 8 points!
            Maria: "I had a really slow start. I was kind of sleeping in the beginning of the match. I had to get myself going somehow and I did, and I played really, really well. I had so many opportunities in the beginning of the second set but I didn't take them, and she's the type of opponent that's going to play her best tennis when she's playing from behind and has nothing to lose. That's happened to me with her before. Her level just comes up, and mine dropped. I felt like my energy was going down. I wasn't moving or hitting the same way, and I needed something to get me going. I think that first game of the third set was very important. There were a couple of rallies at the start of it when I scrambled to win them, which gave me a lot of confidence. I felt like things were changing after that."
            Vera: "It was a tough one. She started off really well and I didn't really know what to do. She was really aggressive and didn't give me a chance. Then I found my game a little bit better and caused her trouble in the second. I think the first game of the third set was an important game on my serve. I lost it, and then she took a 3-0 lead, and it was really tough to stop her after that."
            Vera formed a mouthwatering but sadly one-off doubles-partnership with Lucie Šafárová at Doha: they reached the semi-finals, beating fourth seeds Chan,Yung-Jan/Chuang,Chia-Jung in the quarters before losing 7-5 6-2 to top-ranked Cara Black/Liezel Huber.
            Vera's singles-ranking had oscillated to a year-low #27 during her four weeks off, but her Doha-final elevated it to #21.

In the first round of Bangalore, Vera overcame #123-ranked Selesian qualifier Monica Niculescu - the female Fabrice Santoro - 4-6 6-3 6-1, and said: "The conditions are tough as I am playing for the first time here. I had to slow myself to play consistently; my shots were not working in the beginning. I made a lot of unforced errors. She used different spins, and I had to work harder for victory. I know I have to cut down on the unforced errors in order to win matches."
            In the second round, Vera overcame another slow start to beat another Romanian qualifier - world #271 Agnes Szatmari - 7-6(5) 6-1. Vera was broken in the first game, but broke back for *4-4. "I could have played better," she said. "I didn't serve too well, and I was trying to hit the ball too hard. I am not happy with the way I constructed my points."
            This set up a quarter-final against #7-ranked Wimbledon-champion Venus Williams. Vera trailed 1-5* in the first set, but won 3 games in a row to break back twice for *4-5. Vera saved five set-points, but lost the first set anyway, and the second by two breaks to one as Williams won 6-4 6-3. Vera said: "It was difficult to play Venus today. I have a lot of work to do. I have not been at my best form, and need to get better."

Vera's progress to the quarter-finals of Indian Wells was ignored by the media as she beat world #55 Aravane Rezaď 6-3 3-6 6-3, #113-ranked qualifier Galina Voskoboeva 6-0 6-3, and #56 Casey Dell'Acqua 6-7(5) 6-0 6-4.
            This set up a quarter-final against world #2 Ana Ivanovic, and unfortunately Vera didn't do herself justice: Ana won 6-1 6-4 in 1h06m. Ana said: "I started really well. I thought I played some of my best tennis here, so I was really happy about that. In the second set, I had a break up and then lost a little bit of concentration. I started to get a bit emotional, and tried to go for too much. I lost my rhythm a little bit. I was just happy that at the end of the second set, I managed to keep calm and play good." Ana went on to win the title, and later in 2008, she won her first Major at the French Open and became #1 for 12 weeks.
            Vera rose one place in the rankings to #20.

Vera reached the semi-finals of Miami, though her progress to the quarter-finals was also low-key: she beat #105-ranked qualifier Ekaterina Bychkova 3-6 6-3 6-2, #83-ranked qualifier Alisa Kleybanova (conqueror of Nicole Vaidišová) 6-1 6-4, and 32-year-old Ai Sugiyama 6-2 6-7(5) 6-0.
            In the quarter-finals, Vera scored her second win over Dinara Safina of the year: 7-5 6-4. In the first set, Vera was up a break two separate times and broken back, but a third break was enough.
            Vera was a bit more complimentary about Safina than at Moscow 2007: "It's always tough to play against Dinara; she's a great player. She's quite tall, you know. She has a good serve. So I had to hang in there, had to fight for every point, and I think I did it well and I was able to win key points. She's a fighter, you know. I had a couple [of] match-points on her serve. But she did well. You know, she had good serves and she stayed in the match, so I just had to go there and fight for every point, no matter what was the score."
            In the semi-finals, Vera slumped to another disappointing 6-1 6-4 loss to another Serb: this time world #3 Jelena Jankovic, who would end the year ranked #1 despite not winning a Major. I fancied Vera's chances because Jankovic had a cold, had won her quarter-final by retirement, and had recovered from 1-5 in the third set of her second round against Sofia Arvidsson, saving five match-points. But reportedly she just overpowered Vera.
            Vera's ranking shot up from #20 to #14 - her highest since Wimbledon 2005 - although it dipped to #17 the following week after she pulled out of Amelia Island with a left-thigh strain, and her Tier I semi-final points from Charleston 2007 came off a week early relative to Charleston 2008.

Vera reached her third final of the year - and second Tier I final of her career - on the green clay of Charleston. In the first round, she trounced #409-ranked qualifier Chuang,Chia-Jung - better known as one of the world's top doubles-players - 6-2 6-2. In the second round, she drubbed 34-year-old world #78 Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-1 6-0 in 48 minutes, and in the third round, she upset #11-ranked Selesian Marion Bartoli 6-4 4-6 6-1.
            In the quarter-finals, Vera upset top seed and defending champion Jelena Jankovic - then ranked #5 - 6-2 3-6 6-2, much to the ignorance of the media.
            In the semi-finals, Vera overcame a 0:2 head-to-head against Elena Dementieva to beat the world #8 6-3 6-7(2) 6-3. Vera trailed *0-3 and 2-4* in the second set, before clawing back to lead *6-5 to serve for the match. Down 0/40, she fought back to 40/40 before Dementieva broke after clinching the sixth game-point, and Dementieva swept through the tiebreak 7/2. In the third set, Vera was *0-2 down before she regained control to seal victory in just under 2˝ hours. It was the first time in Vera's career that she beat two top-ten players in the same tournament. Dementieva said: "Vera is really playing well. She's in great shape."
            This set up a final against Serena Williams, who won the French Open 2002, but no claycourt-title since. Williams was on a 14-match winning-streak going into the final, but was frustrated by Vera's retrieval-skills and ability to turn defence into attack - not least the pass-winner with which Vera saved the second set-point of the first set before losing it 4-6.
            Vera saved two break-points in the first game of the second set. She went on to break for *4-2 and to win the second set 6-3. Vera broke for *2-1 in the third, but was broken back immediately. Williams broke for *5-3, and sealed a 6-4 3-6 6-3 victory.
            Williams: "I just wanted to get that first set under my belt, and thank God I did, because I lost the second. I felt like: 'Gosh, I need to step it up [or] I'm going to go home angry.' I've played her a few times, so I really know her game: she's a real fighter and she never stops."
            Vera: "I wasn't frustrated. You have emotions. We're all human beings, and both players want to win. Of course, you get a little bit upset at a couple of shots. But it's most important to get back and ready for the next point, and I think we both fought really well. It was a good match.
            "She never made a mistake when I was up. I think I could have done a little better job about holding my serve, which I wasn't able to do. She always puts pressure on you, so you always have to go for a bigger serve, and eventually your serve-percentage goes down. I accepted I would have some double faults today, and I knew it was going to happen when I was coming into the match. It's just too bad to have two of them in a row [at *3-4 in the third]."
            Vera's ranking went back up from #17 to #14.

Vera joined the Russian Fed Cup team for the semi-final against the United States of America at Moscow on 26th/27th April (Vera was not selected for the first round of the World Group in February, in which Russia beat Israel 4:1). Anna Chakvetadze and Svetlana Kuznetsova put Russia 2:0 up, then Vera had the honour of sealing the tie 3:0 with a 4-6 6-3 6-2 victory over world #115 Vania King. Vera said: "It was my first match on red clay in almost two years. That's why I was a little nervous at the start of the match, but I was able to overcome the early nerves and score the winning point for our team." Russia lost the two dead rubbers to win 3:2.
            Although Fed Cup does not count towards the WTA rankings, Vera rose one place to #13 as Ágnes Szávay's points from Budapest 2007 came off.

Vera became the first player to reach four finals in 2008 at Prague, where she won her first singles-title since Cincinnati 2006. In the first round, she beat #203-ranked Selesian lucky loser Lucie Hradecká 6-2 6-3 to set up a mouthwatering second round with Magdaléna Rybáriková: the gorgeous 19-year-old Slovak who enjoyed an encouraging rise from #231 to #59 in 2008. Sadly, the match didn't even get on court, as Magda withdrew with a low-back strain.
            In the quarter-finals, Vera thrashed world #191 Roberta Vinci 6-1 6-2 (sweet revenge for Eastbourne 2005). The semis provided a big step up in the ranking of Vera's opponent, but only a small step up in the scoreline as Vera saw off world #30 Katarina Srebotnik 6-2 6-4.
            This set up a final against 18-year-old world #26 Victoria Azarenka: one of the most promising young players on the WTA Tour, but she has never (as of the end of 2008) won a WTA singles-title or beaten Vera, who kept it that way with a 7-6(2) 6-2 victory to extend their head-to-head to 3:0. Azarenka led *2-0 in the first set, but was nervous and kept complaining that the clay was too dry.
            Vera: "It was really difficult. We both had some chances; I was a bit more lucky. It's a great relief for me. In the first set, maybe I had a little more luck. During the second set, I managed to maintain a good quality of play. I missed the whole red-claycourt season last year with my [left-wrist] injury, so I'm just enjoying every tournament now."
            Vera's Prague-title was not immediately rewarded with another rise in the rankings.

In the first round of Rome, Vera beat 32-year-old Ai Sugiyama 6-3 6-3 (by 7 breaks to 4). In the second round, she squeezed past #83-ranked qualifier Iveta Benešová (who had enjoyed some excellent results on the ITF Women's Circuit in the preceding couple of months, including winning ITF Latina for the loss of 10 games) 7-5 4-6 7-5 to avenge losing to Iveta by a similar score at Charleston 2005.
            But in the third round, Vera was unable to repeat her red-clay win over Venus Williams at the French Open 2003, this time losing 7-5 6-2 to the #9-ranked Wimbledon-champion.
            Vera rose one place to #12 in the rankings, although this was not due so much to her Roman exploits as to the abrupt retirement of world #1 Justine Henin, who asked to be removed from the rankings.

At the French Open, Vera reached her first Major fourth round since the Australian Open 2007. In the first round, she thrashed #121-ranked wild card Stéphanie Foretz 6-2 6-1 in 56 minutes, although two of the games she lost were breaks.
            She was also broken twice in the second round as she beat #85-ranked Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro 6-2 6-4, who detained her for 1h21m. Vera trailed *0-2 in the first set and *2-4 in the second, but both times she responded by winning every game left in the set!
            Vera had a nice, easy third-round match against world #140 Aleksandra Wozniak: 6-2 6-2 in 58 minutes. The only thing I was unhappy about was the two breaks against Vera as the first five games of the second set went against serve.
            In the fourth round, Vera was unable to repeat her Charleston win over world #8 Elena Dementieva, who beat her 6-4 1-6 6-2. Vera wasted a big opportunity to win the first set after she led *4-2 (30/0) and also had a break-point in the next game. Vera cruised through the second set, but a long delay before the start of the third (I guess Dementieva taking her customary bathroom-break) seemed to reset the momentum, and Vera didn't start fighting back until it was too late at *0-5. My biggest regret was that the BBC didn't deign to televise this match, even though it was on Court Chatrier.
            Despite the French Open adding 140 points to Vera's ranking, she actually moved down a place to #13 as Dinara Safina shot up from #14 to #9 after reaching the final.

Vera pulled out of Birmingham with a cold - much to my disappointment, as I really enjoyed watching her win the title there in 2006, and really missed her in 2007 and 2008. I did get to see her at Eastbourne, but she lost 6-3 6-3 to #62-ranked qualifier Ekaterina Makarova with the worst performance I've ever seen from her, and I didn't even get to see her practise or around the grounds at Eastbourne 2008. Vera definitely looked out of sorts, spraying errors left, right and centre, and not showing her usual amazing retrieval-abilities either. She led *3-1, but then lost 8 games in a row as Makarova kept finding the sidelines with sharp, left-handed groundstrokes.
            Vera's ranking dropped one place to #14 as Agnieszka Radwanska rose from #14 to #11 after reaching the final.

After missing Wimbledon 2007 with her left-wrist injury, Vera returned to Wimbledon with an emotional 6-1 6-7(3) 6-1 victory over #82-ranked Selesian player Aiko Nakamura. Aiko served for the second set at *5-3, then Vera fought back, but wasted leads of 5-5* (30/0*) and 6-6 (3/1*) before losing the last 6 points of the second set. But there was no such nonsense in the third set.
            In the second round, Vera had the misfortune to draw dangerous floater Tamarine Tanasugarn, who reached the fourth round of Wimbledon in six of seven years (1998-2004), and had just won the grasscourt-tournament at 's-Hertogenbosch. Vera played much better than she did at Eastbourne, showing some of her flairsome power and amazing lateral-retrieval abilities, but she was on the back foot so often against Tanasugarn's early, flat balls, which robbed her of time.
            Vera fought back admirably from 1-4* and *3-5 to lead 6-5* in the first set, and had four set-points in the tiebreak before losing it 10/12. In the second set, Vera fought back from *0-3 to 5-3*, took it 6-4, and looked good for the third set as the 31-year-old Tanasugarn had taken a medical time-out at *4-3 to get her right thigh strapped. But Tanasugarn compensated for her lack of fitness by going for her shots and making them, and Vera never recovered from dropping her opening service-game of the third set as she lost 7-6(8) 4-6 6-3. Tanasugarn went on to reach her first Major quarter-final with a fourth-round upset of second seed Jelena Jankovic.
            Vera jumped from #14 to #11 in the rankings as #12 Daniela Hantuchová and #13 Patty Schnyder lost fourth-round points from Wimbledon 2007, and Marion Bartoli plunged from #10 to #15 for failing to defend her final there.

Vera's mid-season slump continued at Stanford when she lost her opening match 6-3 6-2 to #107-ranked lucky loser Samantha Stosur. But Stosur is a talented serve-volleyer who had been sidelined from September 2007 to April 2008 with Lyme-disease, and had now beaten Vera in their last three matches to lead their head-to-head 3:2. Stosur, who served four aces in the last game, said: "I served well, played aggressive, hit the ball deep, attacked when I could, and played pretty good defense."
            Vera was runner-up in the doubles with Elena Vesnina (her partner since the French Open), beating three low-ranked pairs, and losing 6-4 6-3 to top-ranked Cara Black/Liezel Huber, who won ten doubles-titles in 2008, including the US Open.

At Los Angeles, Vera scored a 6-4 7-6(2) second-round win over #82-ranked Jill Craybas, but lost in the third round 6-4 7-5 to #17 Nadia Petrova. At Montréal, she lost her opening match 6-3 1-6 7-6(2) to #27 Virginie Razzano, reached the semi-finals of the doubles with Elena Vesnina, but pulled out with a left-wrist injury (giving Cara Black/Liezel Huber a walkover).

Vera won the Bronze Medal on her Olympic début at Beijing (her mother won a Bronze Medal in grass-hockey as Natalia Bykova at the Moscow 1980 Olympics). Originally listed only for doubles due to only four players from each country being allowed to play singles at the Olympics, Vera was named for singles when Maria Sharapova withdrew with a right-shoulder injury.
            In the first round, Vera thrashed #52-ranked Chinese Selesian Yan,Zi 6-2 6-0 in just over an hour. Yan's backhand wasn't working, so Vera put pressure on that side, and Yan made 42 unforced errors.
            In the second round, Vera beat #24-ranked Shahar Pe'er 6-3 7-6(4). She led 5-3* in the second set, but wasted a match-point in that game, and had to serve to stay in the set at *5-6 before winning it on the tiebreak.
            In the third round, Vera extended her head-to-head against Francesca Schiavone to 7:0 with a scrappy 7-6(4) 6-4 victory over the world #26. Vera led 3-0* in the first set, had a set-point at 5-4* before finally taking it on the tiebreak, and also had to endure a Schiavone-fightback from 2-0* to *2-3 in the second set before breaking in the vital seventh game for *4-3.
            In the quarter-finals, Vera overcame an uncharacteristically aggressive performance from Sybille Bammer (who had a W:UE ratio of 32:75 to Vera's 9:50) to beat the world #32 6-3 3-6 6-3. The keys to the match were the momentum-switches at the end of the first two sets: Vera dropped two games after leading *5-1 to give Bammer momentum for the second set; Bammer dropped three games after leading 5-0* to set Vera up for the third set: Vera led 3-0*, but had to endure the scare of being pegged back to *3-3 before winning the last three games of the match, which lasted just over two hours.
            Vera's struggles against Elena Dementieva continued as she lost 6-3 7-6(3) to her fellow Muscovite - now the world #7 - in the semi-finals. Dementieva won the first set by four breaks to two; the second set had two breaks apiece, and Vera saved the first match-point at *4-5 (30/40) before losing on the tiebreak. Dementieva, who considers the Olympics more important than the Majors, went on to win the Gold Medal by beating Dinara Safina in the final.
            Vera completed an all-Russian podium-sweep - the first by any country in any Olympic tennis-event since Britain at London 1908 - by beating Chinese world #42 Li,Na 6-0 7-5 in 1h09m in the Bronze-Medal play-off. The match attracted more spectators than the Gold-Medal final, which started at the same time! Li had beaten Venus Williams in the quarter-finals, but put up a very poor performance against Vera, holding serve only twice, with abysmal winning-percentages on both serves, and a W:UE ratio of 10:52 to Vera's 7:27.
            Vera romped through the first set in just 18 minutes, but dropped her first two service-games of the second to trail *1-3. She fought back to 4-3*, but missed two break-points that would have left her serving for the match, and had to serve to stay in the set at *5-4 (30/30) before winning 10 of the last 13 points to take the Bronze Medal.
            Vera's Bronze Medal made Russia the clear winner of the Olympic Tennis across all four disciplines. Russia's three medals pulled it clear of Spain and the United States of America, which won two medals each.
            Vera: "All the Russians were playing so well. It's just amazing that we all were able to do so well here, to get three medals for our country. We're all very proud of it. Russian tennis is at a great level. It's at the highest level."
            Vera reached the quarter-finals of the women's doubles with Elena Vesnina, but lost 6-4 6-0 to Serena Williams/Venus Williams.
            Vera rose from #11 to #9 in the rankings, matching her previous career-high ranking of #9 that she held from 9th August to 12th September 2004. Her second sojourn at #9 lasted just one week, as she dropped back to #10 when Anna Chakvetadze displaced her by reaching the New Haven final.

Vera started the US Open with a 6-4 6-3 win over world #82 Barbora Záhlavová Strýcová, but crashed out in the second round 6-3 6-3 to #76 Tatiana Perebiynis, making 30 unforced errors. Vera had made at least the third round in her five previous US Open appearances (2002-2004 and 2006-2007).
            Despite losing 30 ranking-points, Vera moved back up to her then-career-high ranking of #9 as Anna Chakvetadze failed to defend her US Open 2007 semi-final.

Vera won the opening rubber of the Fed Cup final on 13th/14th September on clay at Madrid, with Russia going on to defeat Spain 4:0 for its fourth Fed Cup triumph in five years (2004-2005 and 2007-2008). Russian Fed Cup captain Shamil Tarpishchev had been planning to leave Vera off the team because she had pain in her left wrist, but had to replace Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina after they reached the semi-finals of the US Open the week before.
            Vera beat world #29 Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3 6-4 in 1h33m in the opening rubber, dominating with heavy forehands and running volleys, and punishing any short balls. Vera led 6-3 2-0*, dropped 4 games in a row to trail 2-4* as Medina Garrigues raised her game, tracking down every ball; Vera hit some loose shots, but won the last 4 games of the match as she played more aggressively than Medina Garrigues, with a barrage of forehand winners.
            Vera: "I haven't played in a Fed Cup final in four years, and it was very tough for both of us to start the first match. Anabel is a great player, so I'm glad to get through this one. I think I lost a bit of concentration in the middle of the second set, but Anabel is a good player, so she came up with some good shots; I made a couple of unforced errors, and there you go: the momentum changed. I was really happy that I was able to [get] back into it right away and come up with some even better shots than hers, and reduce the unforced errors. I had to stay aggressive, and I am really happy that my forehand worked really good today."
            Medina Garrigues: "She plays all the time very regular, and I was irregular: up and down. I couldn't play my game during all the match."
            Svetlana Kuznetsova won the second and third rubbers to seal the tie 3:0, the fourth rubber was not played, and Russia won the doubles.

Vera won her second WTA singles-title of the year - the seventh of her career - at Guangzhou. In the first round, she trounced world #75 Anastasia Rodionova 6-1 6-2 in 59 minutes. She proceeded to advance to the final with minimal media-attention, beating #313-ranked lucky loser Xu,Yi-Fan 6-1 7-6(4), #70 Karin Knapp 6-1 6-0 in 56 minutes, and #33-ranked Wimbledon semi-finalist Zheng,Jie 6-3 7-5.
            In the final, Vera disappointed the Chinese crowd with a 6-7(4) 6-0 6-2 victory over #40-ranked Selesian player Peng,Shuai. Vera fought back from 1-4* down in the first set, thwarted Peng's attempt to serve for it at *5-4, and although she lost the first set on a tiebreak, she stormed through the next 11 games to lead *5-0 in the third. Although Peng broke back and held, Vera sealed victory in 2h20m.
            Vera: "I wasn't going for enough shots in the first set; I think I was playing a bit too passively. She's a very good player and fights well, and she took advantage. But I had more experience behind my back, and was able to turn the match around."

In the second round of Beijing, Vera extended her head-to-head against Francesca Schiavone to 8:0, beating the world #23 7-6(5) 6-2. In the quarter-finals, she shellacked #27 Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-0 6-1 in 51 minutes, but in the semi-finals, she lost 6-4 2-6 6-4 to world #2 Jelena Jankovic in 2h22m.
            Vera moved up to #9 in the Race to qualify for the Sony Ericsson Championships - on par to qualify, as Maria Sharapova, who was #6 on the Race, announced on 26th September that she would not play again in 2008.

In the first round of Stuttgart, Vera beat world #13 Daniela Hantuchová 6-3 6-2 in 1h18m. In the second round, she ruined Marion Bartoli's 24th birthday (2nd October) by humiliating the #14-ranked Selesian player 6-2 6-0 in 58 minutes. Vera said: "I didn't give her a chance to get into the match. I played pretty well and consistent."
            In the quarter-finals, Vera lost 7-6(8) 7-6(5) to Jelena Jankovic, who already knew she would become world #1 the following Monday, despite never having won a Major. Vera led 5-3 in the first set, had a set-point at 7/6 in the tiebreak, and led 4-2 in the second set. Jankovic discovered a weakness in Vera's game that can be exposed using lobs, and sealed victory with a winner when Vera slipped at match-point down.

Vera reached her sixth WTA final of the year at Moscow, but fell one match short of winning the tournament she always said she most wanted to win. In the first round, Vera beat world #32 Maria Kirilenko - one of the few players who comes close to her in facial beauty - 6-4 6-4 in 1h47m.
            In the second round, she played Daniela Hantuchová for the second week in a row, and inflicted a 6-1 6-0 hurting on the sexy Slovak in 52 minutes to extend their head-to-head to 4:0. Vera won the first 16 points of the match to lead 4-0, and dropped only five points on her own serve all match. She said: "I did not make any unforced mistakes tonight. I was serving and returning well. But I know that one can only have one or two such easy matches in a season."
            In the quarter-finals, she beat another Slovak - pretty little Dominika Cibulková, the world #20 - 7-5 6-4. Vera saved five break-points at *5-5 in the first set.
            In the first Moscow semi-final of her career, Vera beat world #3 Dinara Safina 6-2 7-6(5) to extend their head-to-head to 5:4, including 3:0 for 2008! Safina served erratically in the first set (four double faults and two breaks), and said: "I could not find the court in the first set. I had chances in the second set, but I waited for her mistakes instead of taking the initiative."
            Vera: "I tried to perform my best tennis today. It was my first-ever Kremlin Cup semi-final, and I wasn't under pressure, and I really enjoyed playing here on Saturday. I've played in several finals this year, but playing in Moscow is something else."
            But in the final, Vera lost to new world #1 Jelena Jankovic for the third time in as many weeks, during which time their head-to-head deteriorated from 3:3 to 3:6. Their previous two matches had been close, but Jankovic used the power of the #1 ranking to inflict a disappointing 6-2 6-4 scoreline on the girl who is something special. It could have been even worse but for Vera's mini-fightback from *2-4 to *4-4 in the second set.
            Vera: "It seems she had an answer for everything I tried. In the first set, she didn't allow me to play my game, and I was lost on the court. And after winning the first set, she was relaxed and just went for her shots."
            Jankovic: "It was very tough to win the final, as Vera never gives up. She forced me to play my best tennis to win today."
            Vera rose one place in the rankings to a new career-high of #8.

Vera's next tournament was a quick one, as she retired with dizziness when trailing #30-ranked Anabel Medina Garrigues 3-6 *0-3 in the second round of Zürich. Her ranking dropped back to #9.

Vera reached her seventh WTA final of the year at Linz - and qualified for the Sony Ericsson Championships. In the second round, she exacted revenge for Miami 2005 by drubbing #72-ranked qualifier Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-2 6-0 in 54 minutes of aggressive baseline-tennis. The only hiccup came when Vera dropped serve at *5-1 in the first set. She saved five more break-points.
            In the quarter-finals, Vera recovered from 4-5* in the first set to beat 18-year-old world #19 Alizé Cornet 7-5 6-1. With this win on 24th October, Vera qualified for the Sony Ericsson Championships along with Venus Williams, officially locking out Maria Sharapova (whose season had ended prematurely due to a right shoulder-injury) and Agnieszka Radwanska (who could have qualified by winning Linz and Québec City, although she did eventually get a taste of the action as an alternate, along with Nadia Petrova). People say that Vera was the last to qualify, but she qualified at the same time as Venus, and finished the Race at #6!
            Vera: "It's been a different mindset. You're not just playing to win the tournament; you're also playing to qualify. You always have it in the back of your mind. I've been playing since Fed Cup in Madrid, every single week non-stop trying to race for the Championships. It was difficult, so I'm happy I was able to qualify."
            In the semi-finals, Vera improved on the score and duration it had taken to beat Marion Bartoli at Stuttgart as she annihilated the #17-ranked Selesian player 6-0 6-1 in 52 minutes to extend their head-to-head to 6:1. Marion didn't even reach game-point until Vera led 6-0 *4-0. Vera was then broken on a double fault, and had to save four more break-points at *5-1 before she converted her third match-point.
            Vera: "It was definitely a good performance from me. I think I was staying pretty aggressive throughout the match, and executed well in the important moments, and that probably made the difference."
            This set up a final against Ana Ivanovic, who, like Vera, had won seven WTA singles-titles in her career up to this point. Ana had been ranked #1 for 12 weeks after winning the French Open in June, but a thumb-injury and severe loss of form had seen her slip to #4. Ana had only won her semi-final 7-5 in the third - in complete contrast to Vera's semi-final - so I felt very optimistic that Vera could win her first Tier II (or higher) title here.
            But Vera's hectic schedule finally caught up with her in the final, and Ana completed her return to form with a 6-2 6-1 victory in 51 minutes to extend her head-to-head over Vera to 4:2. Vera's serve let her down, as she double-faulted seven times (including three in one game at *1-3 in the first), and allowed Ana to convert all six break-points against her, whilst only reaching one break-point against Ana: the one that she converted at 0-3* in the first set.
            Ana: "I expected a very tough match. But from the first point on, I felt really good. I felt I was putting a lot of pressure on her serve, and even if I made a mistake on the next shot, I would commit and play aggressive. I think I played almost a perfect match."
            Vera: "I'm really disappointed with how I played today. She played very good, and I probably paid the price today for playing seven weeks in row. I couldn't keep my concentration on a single point today, so it was very difficult. I made my choice after the US Open to play every week, because there were a lot of girls who wanted to get into the Championships, and at the end of the day, I got to where I wanted to be. But today I finally had to pay the price for all of the travelling and the many matches I've played over the last several weeks. I couldn't push myself any more."
            At least Vera had a week off between Linz and the Championships, as she pulled out of Québec City citing a scheduling-conflict.

Vera reached the final of the Sony Ericsson Championships at Doha, beating four top-seven players. Although this success was richly deserved after the year Vera had, it came as a huge surprise to most people, as Vera was the lowest-ranked player (#9) in the eight-player competition, and came in with a 3:10 win/loss record against top-eight players in 2008.
            Vera started the round-robin phase against sixth-seeded world #7 Svetlana Kuznetsova on Tuesday, and I must admit I thought of it as a must-win match if Vera was going to improve on her 0:3 record at the Championships from 2004. And win she did: Vera beat an error-strewn Kuznetsova 6-2 6-3 in 1h20m, winning the first set by three breaks to one (after saving three break-points), and the second by a single break. Vera handled the windy conditions better than Kuznetsova, and said: "The conditions are very difficult, especially since we were playing indoors for the past two months."
            In her second round-robin match on Wednesday, Vera avenged her loss in the Linz final by beating #4 Ana Ivanovic 6-3 6-7(5) 6-4 in 2h26m. Ana was battling a virus: she had a sore throat, was struggling to breathe, was dizzy, and took a medical time-out at 1-4 in the first set, during which she had her blood-pressure measured. In the third set, Vera led 3-0* and 5-2*, had her first match-point at *5-3, but Ana saved it with a sensational forehand return-winner. Vera had her second match-point at 5-4* (40/15*), and converted her third at 40/30*.
            Richard Eaton (AFP): "Zvonarëva often attacked stridently against her far more powerful opponent, timing the ball brilliantly and taking risks with commendable enterprise."
            Vera: "Ana is a fighter; she never gives up. So I had to concentrate on myself at the end of that match, think about my game, and not think about what was going on on the other side. I did that well. I managed to win a very tough match against a tough opponent."
            Ana: "I don't like to complain, but ever since I came here, I wasn't feeling really well. I got a virus and I had pain in my throat. So from the first day, I wasn't feeling so good. It was very hard for me to breathe, and I was feeling very dizzy and light-headed, so it was very tough. I gave 100% today, but she played well."
            This left Vera with one foot in the semi-finals at 2:0, and Ana's semi-final chances hanging by a horsehair at 0:2. Vera's place in the semi-finals was assured on Thursday when #1 Jelena Jankovic beat Kuznetsova to eliminate the potential scenario of Vera, Jankovic and Kuznetsova all finishing the round robin 2:1.
            Although Vera and Jankovic had already qualified for the semi-finals, their third round-robin match on Friday against each other was important, as whoever won it would top the White Group and not have to play Maroon Group winner Venus Williams in the semis.
            Vera beat Jankovic 2-6 6-3 6-4 - her second-ever victory over a reigning world #1 - to finish top of the White Group with 3:0. The turning-point came in the second set, when the umpire wouldn't let Jankovic make a Hawk-Eye challenge because she asked too late, and Jankovic became frustrated. Jankovic led *3-1 in the third, but Vera fought back with deep groundstrokes and occasional forays to the net, and broke for *4-3 courtesy of two double faults. Vera's victory improved her head-to-head against Jankovic to 4:6, and she got the WTA's Win of the Week award for it.
            Vera: "It feels great, of course. I worked hard to get into these championships, and I'm really happy to be here and to play against the eight best players in the world. And it's great that I was able to come up with some good tennis so far."
            Jankovic: "I was playing very well in the first set, but then I let her start playing her game. Vera can rally all day long without making mistakes. If you let her take control, you're done."
            In the semi-finals, Vera beat world #5 Elena Dementieva 7-6(7) 3-6 6-3 to improve to 4:0 for the week. In a first set with more breaks than holds, Vera trailed 1-4*, *3-5 and 5-6*, led 5/1* in the tiebreak before Dementieva fought back, and saved a set-point before converting her own second set-point. The second set was decided by a single break, but could have been different if Vera had converted a break-point at 1-3*. Vera broke in the second game of the third set, and had to recover from 0/30 to make it 3-0*. Vera led 4-1*, got broken back to 4-3*, but broke again to lead *5-3, and served out for victory after 2h21m. Dementieva finished with 9 double faults.
            AFP: "Remarkably for the player possessing the slightest build of any in this tournament, Zvonarëva was often able to force the pace from the back of the court, rifling flat and brilliantly accurate groundstrokes into tight corners and sharp angles, and also doing well when she followed up at the net."
            Vera: "It's very exciting just to be here at the championships, and now to play on the last day, it's even more special. Here, I knew I had to play good straight away. If not, there is no chance. I knew I had to start to play good every single match. I didn't have any expectations. I felt confident about my game coming here, but I didn't know what was going to happen. I was tired after my last tournament [Linz], but I've recovered well enough, and I've felt good again here.
            "The match was very, very tough. I think you have to try to keep your concentration throughout the whole match. Yeah, I had some games not so good, but overall I was able to manage myself and my game pretty good.
            "I've always had tough matches against Elena; she's a great fighter, so I knew I had to fight until the last point. I've been playing against top-ten players every day here. In every match, I've had to play my best from start to finish. It's a great achievement for me to win all of my matches so far.
            Dementieva: "I had such a great chance to win the first set, and then maybe finish in two sets. After losing the first set, it was difficult to stay focused and try to fight, because she started playing with even more confidence. It was just a tough match, and I couldn't come back in the end. Vera played a great match."
            This set up a final between the last two players to qualify for the Championships, as Vera took on seventh-seeded world #8 Venus Williams, who had won her fifth Wimbledon-crown in July of an otherwise modest year. Williams won 6-7(5) 6-0 6-2 in 2h11m to take her first season-ending championship.
            Vera led 5-2* in the first set, with four set-points at *5-3 - including 40/0, when Williams set the tone for what was to follow with a blazing forehand return-winner. Vera trailed 1/5* in the tiebreak, but relaxed and reeled off 6 points in a row to take the first set (finishing with a dead netcord-winner).
            Steve Tignor (Tennis.com): "It was a bit of a shock to see the match begin with Zvonarëva hitting from on top of her baseline, and Williams huffing and puffing from side to side behind hers. But the Russian hits a heavy enough ball to dictate against anyone, and Williams spent most of the first set pulling up on her backhands and spraying them wide."
            In the second set, Williams played smarter, with better depth and angles, and Vera's level dropped. Vera had a game-point in the second game and a break-point in the fifth, but couldn't convert either. The only games Vera won in the third set were a break in the third game and a hold to love in the sixth, but the 2008 WTA Tour season ended when she was broken to 15 in the eighth game.
            Richard Eaton (AFP): "Near the end [when Williams broke for 1-3* in the third set], she [Vera] collapsed on the ground and burst into sobbing, apparently because of the exhaustion which was diminishing her brilliantly rhythmic groundstrokes."
            Williams: "It was a hard-fought match right down to the end; we were both wanting it so bad. I think I just got more consistent. I was missing some shots early on, and then I think I was more in control of the points, and I felt the tables started to turn a little bit."
            Vera: "Venus is very powerful. She came up with some great serves when she needed. It was tough on me. Maybe I didn't use those shots that helped me to win the first set. I didn't use them in the second and third as much, so it gave her a little bit more opportunity to dictate the game.
            "I think I could have done better today - played a little bit better tennis. Obviously I'm a little bit disappointed, but I had a great time with five matches against top-ten players. It's the first time I've got the chance to play against top-ten players five matches in a row, and I was able to come up with four wins. So of course it's a good week. I'm just looking forward to next year. Overall, I'm going to try to analyse, and try to be better next time."
            Vera rose from #9 in the rankings to a new career-high of #7, beating her previous career-high of #8 (13th-19th October 2008) and year-end high of #11 (2004).

You must see the movie, the sand in my eyes
I walk through a desert-song when the heroine dies
[David Bowie, "The Secret Life of Arabia"]