Vera Zvonareva became the oldest champion in the history of the WTA Finals

The winners of the WTA Finals, which finished in the Mexican Cancun of the final tournament of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) with a prize fund of $9 million, were Russian Vera Zvonareva and German Laura Siegemund, who beat American Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Australian Ellen Perez in the decisive doubles match in two sets. . At the same time, 39-year-old Zvonareva turned out to be the oldest winner of the final WTA competitions in their entire half-century history.

It was perhaps the most wonderful triumph in women’s tennis this season. It was accompanied by natural disasters and associated with statistical calculations that can be considered unprecedented. After all, the main character of the doubles final was Vera Zvonareva, who seemingly belongs to a generation that has long since passed away, with which the heyday of Russian women’s tennis in the first decade of this century is associated. The same Zvonareva who has many glorious victories to her name, and in 2010 reached the finals of Wimbledon and US Open in singles and finished the season in second place in the world classification.

Typically, female athletes do not like it when people talk about their age. But in this case you can’t do without it. After all, Zvonareva is 39 years old, her partner Laura Siegemund is 35, and everything that happened to them lately resembled a purely Hollywood story, which is sometimes created by a screenwriter whose name is professional sports. It all ended with a classic happy ending, although it, of course, would not have happened if the Russian and German had not won their first title this year in Washington in August, reached the US Open final in September and taken the title in Ningbo, and in October they did not win one of the three competitions in the final week of the WTA regular season in Nanchang, securing their participation in the final tournament at the very last moment.

And then there was an extreme week at a Mexican resort. The downpours that tormented the organizers and athletes in Cancun disrupted the schedule almost every day. As a result, during the first seven days of the competition, Vera Zvonareva and Laura Siegemund managed to complete only two of their matches. Having beaten the titled Czech duo of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova – 6:3, 6:7 (8:10), 10:5, they then lost to the Canadian-New Zealand pair Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe, who took first place in their group – 4:6, 2:6. As for the meeting with Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff, who started this tournament as leaders in the doubles ranking, it turned out to be incredibly nervous; due to rain, it began on Saturday and ended on Sunday – 3:6, 6:4, 10 :8. Moreover, on the same day, Zvonareva and Siegemund played the semi-finals against the Australian Storm Hunter, who, by the way, eventually became the first racket of the world at the end of the entire season, and Elise Mertens, who won last year’s WTA Finals with the Russian Veronika Kudermetova. That is, for several hours the Russian and the German had to deal with two other elite duets, but in the second case they were able to turn the tide of the fight, winning a strong-willed victory – 3:6, 6:3, 10:5.

Initially, the option was not ruled out that the final would also be played on Saturday. However, it was eventually moved to Monday. There, Zvonareva and Siegemund’s rivals were American Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Australian Ellen Perez. These two tennis players are quite strong doubles specialists, however, for the first time in the entire tournament, the chances of the Russian and the German were rated higher. After all, the only meeting with Melichar-Martinez and Perez, played this year in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Washington, although it was an equal fight, was still left behind them.

The tactics of Zvonareva and Siegemund became clear from the very first rallies. Realizing that it was dangerous to compete with Melichar-Martinez and Perez in sharp shootouts at the net, they immediately began to pull their opponents to the back line with the help of high half-candles, sending the ball along a high trajectory. At first, the short Perez looked the most unstable on the court. It is not surprising that in the third game it was on her serve that the Russian and the German made a break. The middle of the first game turned out to be very tense, but Zvonareva and Siegemund retained their advantage, and in the final tenth game the Russian was on serve.

In the first half of the second set, the psychological tension intensified, and on the serves of Melichar-Martinez, Siegemund and Perez, who made a double fault on a break point, there were three breaks in a row. The best on the court was Zvonareva, who in the eighth game on Siegemund’s serve, when playing the decisive point, reacted superbly to the attacking blow of the athletic American. As a result, the Russian woman turned out to be the only participant in the final who, having played the maximum number of games on her serve – six – never lost it. Having won – 6:4, 6:4 in 1 hour 38 minutes, Zvonareva and Siegemund, who won the US Open in 2020, not only won their seventh joint title. Zvonareva, who achieved her 16th victory as a pair, also set a WTA Finals record, becoming its oldest champion in its entire half-century history. Previously, the record belonged to American Lisa Raymond, who won the final tournament in 2011 at the age of 38. And in terms of their total age – 74 years – this WTA Finals champion couple has no equal.

Finally, a few more interesting facts. Before Cancun, the only tennis player to win the final tournament while having a child was Zimbabwean Kara Black. But her son turned only two years old in 2014, and Evelina, the daughter of Vera Zvonareva, is now seven years old. And, of course, the triumph in Cancun could not but affect the position of the newly crowned champions in the world rankings. Siegemund there will rise from 9th place to 5th for the first time in his career, and Zvonareva, who was in 16th position, soared into the top ten and will finish the season 9th. For her, this is a repeat of her career high in doubles. Perhaps these should be the rewards for exceptional dedication to your favorite work.

Evgeniy Fedyakov