Vera Zvonareva gained more than 700 spots on the WTA rankings list following her impressive run at the ITF W100 tournament in Dubai.
Zvonareva, who celebrated her 41st birthday in September, had been out of action since April 2024 before accepting a main draw wildcard into the ITF tournament in Dubai. The Russian didn't only put an end to the claims that she had silently retired from tennis, but she also showed that she still had the game to compete after sensationally collecting four wins and reaching the Dubai final - in which she was beaten by 20-year-old world No. 82 Petra Marcinko.
When the last week started, Zvonareva didn't even have a ranking. Now, the 2010 Wimbledon finalist is ranked at No. 654 in the world. On this week's WTA rankings, a total of 1388 players have a ranking.
It is worth mentioning that Zvonareva also participated in the Dubai women's doubles event, where she reached the final with Rada Zolotareva. Sadly for the Russian duo, they failed to serve out for a two-set win against Gao Xinyu and Manachaya Sawangkaew, and paid the ultimate price by losing 4-6 7-5 10-7.
The 41-year-old is now also the 796th-ranked player in the doubles rankings.
Zvonareva praised by Russian tennis legend Yevgeny Kafelnikov
Kafelnikov, a former two-time Grand Slam champion and an Olympic gold medalist, enjoyed following Zvonareva's Dubai run.
I dont really understand what Vera is doing. I dont know what the secret to success at 41 is. Maybe shes eating some sort of rejuvenating apples (laughs). Everyone does what they feel is right. If she enjoys playing tennis great. We can only be happy for someone who is having fun and getting a thrill out of it. Why take that away from her? We can only be glad for her, Kafelnikov told Championat when asked about the Russian's impressive return to tennis at 41.
