Natasha Zvereva

Natalya "Natasha" Maratovna Zvereva (born 16 April 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Belarus. She was the first major athlete in the Soviet Union to demand publicly that she should be able to keep her tournament earnings.Zvereva Shows She Can Still Beat the Odds Retrieved 26 February 2009. Zvereva and her main doubles partner Gigi Fernández are the most successful women's doubles team (measured by WTA Tour and major titles) since Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver.

On 12 July 2010, Zvereva was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame alongside Fernández.

Personal life Zvereva was born as Natalya Maratovna Zvereva in Minsk, Belarus to parents Marat Nikolayevich Zverev and Nina Grigoryevna Zvereva. She started tennis at the age of seven at the encouragement of her parents, who were both tennis instructors in the Soviet Union. While her name is sometimes spelled Zverava, in 1994 she officially changed her name to Natasha Zvereva. At 18, answering the question about her personal symbol of success, she famously replied the following: "A red Mercedes-Benz, a big one".

Career As a junior, Zvereva won the Wimbledon girls' singles title in 1986, defeating Leila Meskhi in the final 2–6, 6–2, 9–7. In 1987, Zvereva won the Wimbledon girls' singles title again, as well as the US Open and French Open girls' singles titles, making her one of only 2 players to win 4 or more junior titles and one of only 2 players to win 3 or more junior singles titles in a calendar year.

After turning pro, Zvereva won four WTA Tour singles titles and 80 WTA Tour doubles titles, 18 of them in Grand Slam tournaments: five at Wimbledon, four at the US Open, five at the French Open, and four at the Australian Open. She won those Grand Slam doubles titles with four different partners: Gigi Fernández, Martina Hingis, Pam Shriver, and Larisa Savchenko Neiland. She achieved non-calendar year Grand Slams twice: in 1992–93 with Fernández and in 1996–97 with Fernández (three tournaments) and Hingis (Australia).

In addition to her Grand Slam doubles titles, Zvereva teamed with Meskhi to win a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

At the age of 17, she made her sole Grand Slam singles final at the 1988 French Open, beating Martina Navratilova en route. In a highly publicized final, she lost to Steffi Graf 6-0, 6-0 in only 34 minutes. The official time of the match given on the scoresheet was 34 minutes, but just 32 minutes of that was spent on the court, as a rain break split the match into two periods of play, of nine and 23 minutes. (Graf went on to win all four Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic gold medal that year.)

This was the shortest Grand Slam final in the Open Era. It was also the most one-sided until equalled by the 2025 women's final at Wimbledon, which had the same score but lasted 57 minutes.

Zvereva is one of the few players to have beaten both Graf and Monica Seles, both former world number ones, in the same Grand Slam singles tournament. Ten years later at Wimbledon in 1998, Zvereva defeated the fourth-seeded Graf in the third round 6–4, 7–5 and the sixth-seeded Seles in a quarterfinal 7–6, 6–2. This was also notable because it was Zvereva's sole win over Graf in 21 career singles matches. She lost in the semifinals to Nathalie Tauziat which was to be her second best career Grand Slam singles result. Starting with the French Open in 1987 and extending through Wimbledon in 2000, Zvereva played in 51 of the 54 Grand Slam singles tournaments held, reaching the quarterfinals or better eight times.

In addition to her Grand Slam women's doubles titles, Zvereva twice won the mixed-doubles title at the Australian Open. She partnered with Jim Pugh to win the title in 1990 and with Rick Leach in 1995.

Zvereva retired from professional tennis in 2003. Her last appearance in a Grand Slam tournament was in Wimbledon 2002, where she lost in the first round to Marlene Weingärtner 6–4, 3–6, 2–6.

Playing style Zvereva used a baseline, counter-punching style centered around topspin and her double-handed backhand. She had great hands, used a variety of spins, and was willing to rush the net and volley. Though Zvereva's talent was never in doubt, she often suffered from lapses in concentration during matches and in her confidence as a singles player.

Significant finals Grand Slam finals Singles: 1 (runner-up) ResultYearChampionship SurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1988French Open Clay Steffi Graf 0–6, 0–6

Doubles: 31 (18 titles, 13 runner-ups) ResultYearChampionship SurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1988Wimbledon (1)Grass Larisa Savchenko Steffi Graf Gabriela Sabatini 3–6, 6–1, 10–12Win 1989French Open (1)Clay Larisa Savchenko Steffi Graf Gabriela Sabatini6–4, 6–4Loss 1989Wimbledon (2)Grass Larisa Savchenko Jana Novotná Helena Suková1–6, 2–6Loss 1990French Open (1)Clay Larisa Savchenko-Neiland Jana Novotná Helena Suková4–6, 5–7Loss 1991 French Open (2)Clay Larisa Savchenko-Neiland Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná4–6, 0–6Win 1991Wimbledon (1)Grass Larisa Savchenko-Neiland Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná6–4, 3–6, 6–4Win 1991US Open (1)Hard Pam Shriver Jana Novotná Larisa Neiland6–4, 4–6, 7–6(7–5)Win 1992French Open (2)Clay Gigi Fernández Conchita Martínez Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–3, 6–2Win 1992Wimbledon (2)Grass Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná Larisa Neiland6–4, 6–1Win 1992US Open (2)Hard Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná Larisa Neiland7–6(7–4), 6–1Win 1993Australian Open (1)Hard Gigi Fernández Pam Shriver Elizabeth Smylie6–4, 6–3Win 1993French Open (3)Clay Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná Larisa Neiland6–3, 7–5Win 1993Wimbledon (3)Grass Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná Larisa Neiland6–4, 6–7(9–11), 6–4Win 1994Australian Open (2)Hard Gigi Fernández Patty Fendick Meredith McGrath6–3, 4–6, 6–4Win 1994French Open (4)Clay Gigi Fernández Lindsay Davenport Lisa Raymond6–2, 6–2Win 1994Wimbledon (4)Grass Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario6–4, 6–1Loss 1995Australian Open (1)Hard Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario3–6, 7–6(7–3), 4–6Win 1995French Open (5)Clay Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario6–7(6–8), 6–4, 7–5Loss 1995 Wimbledon (3) Grass Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 7–5, 5–7, 4–6Win 1995 US Open (3) Hard Gigi Fernández Brenda Schultz Rennae Stubbs 7–5, 6–3Loss 1996French Open (3)Clay Gigi Fernández Lindsay Davenport Mary Joe Fernández2–6, 1–6Win 1996US Open (4) Hard Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario1–6, 6–1, 6–4Win 1997Australian Open (3) Hard Martina Hingis Lindsay Davenport Lisa Raymond6–2, 6–2Win 1997French Open (6)Clay Gigi Fernández Mary Joe Fernández Lisa Raymond6–2, 6–3Win 1997Wimbledon (5)Grass Gigi Fernández Nicole Arendt Manon Bollegraf7–6(7–4), 6–4Loss 1997US Open (1)Hard Gigi Fernández Lindsay Davenport Jana Novotná3–6, 4–6Loss 1998Australian Open (2)Hard Lindsay Davenport Martina Hingis Mirjana Lučić4–6, 6–2, 3–6Loss 1998French Open (4)Clay Lindsay Davenport Martina Hingis Jana Novotná1–6, 6–7(4–7)Loss 1998Wimbledon (4)Grass Lindsay Davenport Martina Hingis Jana Novotná3–6, 6–3, 6–8Loss 1998US Open (2)Hard Lindsay Davenport Martina Hingis Jana Novotná3–6, 3–6Loss 1999Australian Open (3)Hard Lindsay Davenport Martina Hingis Anna Kournikova 5–7, 3–6

Mixed doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups) ResultYearChampionship SurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1990Australian Open (1)Hard Jim Pugh Zina Garrison Rick Leach4–6, 6–2, 6–3Loss 1990US Open (1)Hard Jim Pugh Elizabeth Smylie Todd Woodbridge 4–6, 2–6Loss 1991Wimbledon (1)Grass Jim Pugh Elizabeth Smylie John Fitzgerald6–7(4–7), 2–6Win 1995Australian Open (2)Hard Rick Leach Gigi Fernández Cyril Suk7–6(7–4), 6–7(3–7), 6–4

Olympic Games Doubles: 1 bronze medal ResultYearChampionship SurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreBronze1992BarcelonaClayTiedDNP Meskhi and Zvereva lost in the semifinals to Gigi Fernández and Mary Joe Fernández 4–6, 5–7. In 1992, there was no bronze medal play-off match, both beaten semifinal pairs received bronze medals.

Year-end championships finals Doubles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runner-ups) ResultYearChampionship SurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1988New YorkCarpet (i) Larisa Savchenko Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver3–6, 4–6Loss 1989New YorkCarpet (i) Larisa Savchenko Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver3–6, 2–6Win 1993New YorkCarpet (i) Gigi Fernández Larisa Neiland Jana Novotná6–3, 7–5Win 1994New YorkCarpet (i) Gigi Fernández Larisa Neiland Jana Novotná6–3, 6–7(4–7), 6–3Loss 1995New YorkCarpet (i) Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario2–6, 1–6Win 1998New YorkCarpet (i) Lindsay Davenport Alexandra Fusai Nathalie Tauziat6–7(6–8), 7–5, 6–3

WTA career finals Singles: 19 (4–15) LegendGrand Slam tournaments (0–1)Tier I (0–3)Tier II (2–5)Tier III (1–1)Tier IV (1–1)Tier V (0–1)Virginia Slims/VS (0–3)Finals by surfaceHard (2–6)Grass (1–2)Clay (0–3)Carpet (1–4) ResultW-LDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Nov 1986 VS of Arkansas, Little Rock Carpet (i) Kathy Rinaldi 4–6, 7–6(9–7), 0–6Loss 0–2 Nov 1987 VS of Arkansas, Little Rock Hard Sandra Cecchini 6–0, 1–6, 3–6Loss 0–3 Nov 1987 Ameritech Cup, Chicago Carpet (i) Martina Navratilova 1–6, 2–6Loss 0–4 May 1988 French Open, Paris Clay Steffi Graf 0–6, 0–6Loss 0–5 Jun 1988 Eastbourne International, UK Grass Martina Navratilova 2–6, 2–6Loss 0–6 Aug 1988 Canadian Open, Montreal Hard Gabriela Sabatini 1–6, 2–6Loss 0–7 Oct 1988 VS of New England, Worcester Carpet (i) Martina Navratilova 7–6(7–4), 4–6, 3–6Loss 0–8 Apr 1989 Family Circle Cup, Hilton Head Clay Steffi Graf 1–6, 1–6Loss 0–9 Oct 1989 Moscow Ladies Open, Russia Carpet (i) Gretchen Magers 3–6, 4–6Win 1–9 Jan 1990 Hardcourt Championships, Brisbane Hard Rachel McQuillan 6–4, 6–0Win 2–9 Jan 1990 Sydney International, Australia Hard Barbara Paulus 4–6, 6–1, 6–3Loss 2–10 Jun 1991 Birmingham Classic, UK Grass Martina Navratilova 4–6, 6–7(6–8)Loss 2–11 Oct 1993 Stuttgart Open, Filderstadt Hard (i) Mary Pierce 3–6, 3–6Win 3–11 Feb 1994 Ameritech Cup, Chicago Carpet (i) Chanda Rubin 6–3, 7–5Loss 3–12 Mar 1994 Miami Masters, Key Biscayne Hard Steffi Graf 6–4, 1–6, 2–6Loss 3–13 Mar 1994 Family Circle Cup, Hilton Head Clay Conchita Martínez 4–6, 0–6Loss 3–14 Oct 1994 Zurich Open, Switzerland Hard (i) Magdalena Maleeva 5–7, 6–3, 4–6Loss 3–15 Feb 1995 Indian Wells Masters, U.S. Hard Mary Joe Fernández 4–6, 3–6Win 4–15 Jun 1999 Eastbourne International, UK Grass Nathalie Tauziat 0–6, 7–5, 6–3

Doubles: 129 (80–49) LegendGrand Slam tournaments (18–13)Tour Championships (3–3)Tier I (23–13)Tier II (26–12)Tier III (3–3)Tier IV (1–0)Tier V (4–1)Virginia Slims/VS (2–4)Finals by surfaceHard (27–16)Grass (12–7)Clay (21–15)Carpet (20–11)