“In such conditions we had to not enjoy, but survive”

On Monday, in Cancun, Mexico, a couple consisting of Russian Vera Zvonareva and German Laura Siegemund won the WTA Finals – the final tournament of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) with a prize fund of $9 million. In an interview with Kommersant correspondent Evgeny Fedyakov, 39-year-old Zvonareva, who became the oldest champion of the WTA Finals and thanks to this success, 17 years later she returned to the top ten of the world doubles rankings, commented on one of the most striking victories in her career and spoke about the difficulties that all participants in the tournament faced due to the Mexican weather disasters.

— Yours victory with Laura Siegemund became perhaps the biggest surprise of the entire year in the WTA Tour doubles. Having made it to the final tournament at the last moment, you beat several duets that from the outside seemed much stronger than you. What was the deciding factor?

— If you look at the whole year as a whole, our result may indeed seem unexpected. But in fact, this is not entirely true, since Laura and I are a well-matched couple. We have been performing together for three years, even with interruptions, and have reached a good understanding, which makes our duet quite dangerous. In addition, we both still play alone, although I play less than before, and, being universal tennis players, we are able to tactically adapt to any opponents. It is clear that this does not always work out.

But we had big victories before – at the US Open in 2020 and in Miami last season.

And the fact that we got to Cancun last may even have helped. Over the past month, we have played a large number of hard-fought matches, adjusted to the increased psychological pressure and played some additional combinations.

— What did you expect in Cancun, having earned a ticket there at the final tournament of the regular season in Nanchang?

— Probably, at this stage of my career, such a concept – counting on something – simply does not exist. I go out and try to show my best in every match, regardless of the location of the tournament and its prestige. Therefore, having solved the problem of getting to Cancun, we simply exhaled and tried to enjoy competing with the best couples in the world. But we were unlucky with the weather. In such conditions it was necessary not to enjoy, but to survive.

— Almost all the singles players first complained in Cancun about the late readiness of the court for the tournament, and then about the downpours and squally winds. How did you feel about the current situation and how much time did you have for training?

— The conditions were equal for everyone, although it was even harder to play as a couple in such weather. The fact is that in singles in a strong wind you can hit the ball with a certain margin, sending it higher above the net or not deep enough to the baseline. In a pair, no one will allow you to do this, since one of the opponents is almost always at the net and intercepts easy balls. The court was actually ready very late, and each of us had the opportunity to try it out for an hour the day before the tournament. This is very little. After arriving in Cancun, we trained on two practice courts near the hotel. There was slower coverage, and priority was given to singles. And in those days we also trained only for an hour a day.

— Which game at the tournament was the most difficult?

— It’s difficult to single out one match. But from a psychological point of view, the last meeting of the group stage with Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff was extremely difficult and important for us. It started in the evening in a hurricane wind, to which our opponents adapted better, since they had played alone before.

Shortly after we lost the first set, the match was interrupted, then postponed due to rain, and ultimately ended only two days later.

In the decisive tie-break, we first went ahead, but then we made several mistakes and with the score 8:8 we were on the verge of defeat, however, with the help of luck, we still won the last two draws. The semi-final, in which we also lost the first set, was difficult for a different reason. We had never met one of our rivals before, Australian Storm Hunter (the first racket of the world in pairs at the end of the year.— “Kommersant”), and had to adapt along the way. Well, the finale is the finale. It’s always a special story, even if it ends in two parts.

— Before Wimbledon, where you and Siegemund reached the quarterfinals, your duet this year, by and large, showed nothing. What is the reason for the sharp progress in the second half of the season?

— After last year’s victory in Miami, I did not compete due to an Achilles injury and was not sure that I would be able to fully return this year. Therefore, at the beginning of the season, Laura agreed with another partner. It turned out that we also resumed our joint performances in Miami; due to the lack of playing practice, I had to get in shape along the way, and Laura, having been injured herself, partially missed the clay season. There is never complete confidence that everything will work out well. But we tried to approach the current situation with a cool head, draw intelligent conclusions, and structure the training process correctly. It is also very important that we have a common vision of how doubles play should be structured.

— You have been competing at the WTA level since 2000. How do you still manage to stay in good physical shape?

“Given the number of injuries I’ve had throughout my career, it’s not easy. And I also want to pay attention to myself, so if earlier I relied exclusively on tennis, now the approach is a little different.

There is one more point. I can’t train the same number of hours simply because if I do, I’ll most likely get a new injury.

The experience that I have accumulated has allowed me to draw some conclusions and find a certain balance this season, although this is not always possible. In the middle of my career, I could hardly imagine that after so many injuries I would be able to maintain a high level for so long. To some extent this surprises me. But I love tennis and I will try to perform as long as I have the moral and physical strength to fight for every rally.

— Then what are your plans for next year?

— There is no decision yet regarding the next season. I want to rest and recover a little. The consequences of injuries have not gone away, and first you need to carefully study the tournament schedule. I think that Laura will also rest, and after that we will see what the plan will be.

— Do you perceive the triumph in Cancun and returning to the top 10 of the doubles rankings for the first time since 2006 as some kind of reward for your dedication to tennis?

— I didn’t think about it. Although to some extent, there may be some truth in your words. After all, if I had not decided to continue, concentrating on the couple this season, then Cancun simply would not have happened.