Vera Dushevina Biography

Vera Yevgenyevna Dushevina (born 6 October 1986) is a retired Russian professional tennis player. She was born in Moscow and now resides in nearby satellite city of Khimki.

Early life

Dushevina began playing tennis at the age of seven under her father, Yevgeny, an engineer. Her mother, Elena is a teacher.

Tennis career

Early years

Vera played her first Main Draw match at the 2002 J&S Cup by qualifying, but she lost to Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-1, 7-6(2). She was able to win her first WTA tour match at the 2003 NASDAQ-100 Open, after qualifying she defeated Patricia Wartusch 6-0, 6-3 but lost to fourth seed Justine Henin 6-3, 6-2 in the second round. She then won her first professional tour title at the ITF in Innsbruck, Austria coming through the qualifying draw and defeating Melinda Czink 7-6(4), 6-2 in the final. In her next tournament she was able to reach her first WTA Tour semifinals at the 2003 Nordea Nordic Light Open including defeating her first top 50 player, world no. 35 Denisa Chldkov 6-2, 6-3 but lost to Jelena Kostani? in the semifinals. She then played her first Slam main draw match after qualifying but lost to Ashley Harkleroad 6-4, 6-2 in the first round. In the 2003 Kremlin Cup she upset then world no. 28 Lisa Raymond 6-2, 7-6(4), but lost to 7th seed Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-1.

2005-2009

Vera began her 2005 campaign by losing in the first round at the 2005 Canberra Women's Classic to Anna-Lena Grnefeld 7-5, 6-4. At the first slam of the year in the 2005 Australian Open, she was able to reach the fourth round for the first time in a slam losing to 5th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2. Along the way she won her first top 20 victory over then world no. 11 Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-3 in the second round. She then qualified for the 2005 Open Gaz de France and 2005 Dubai Tennis Championships but fell to Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-4 in the second round and to Nathalie Dechy 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-6(4) in the first round, respectively. She then lost 4 straight matches in the second round of the 2005 NASDAQ-100 Open and the first rounds of 2005 Bausch & Lomb Championships, 2005 J&S Cup and 2005 Qatar Total German Open. She then bounced back by reaching the quarterfinals of the 2005 Internationaux de Strasbourg losing to eventual champion Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-1. She however had a bad draw at the 2005 French Open losing to 21st seed Mary Pierce 6-2. 7-5. Dushevina reached her first Women's Tennis Association singles final at the 2005 Hastings Direct International Championships as a qualifier she finished as runner-up to former World No. 1 Kim Clijsters 7-5, 6-0. In the said tournament she won her first top 5 victory over then world no. 3 Amlie Mauresmo 6-4, 6-4 in the second round. However, she fell in the first round of the 2005 Wimbledon to Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-3. She then bounced back to reach the semifinals of the 2005 Nordea Nordic Light Open losing to Katarina Srebotnik 6-0, 7-5. She then reached the second round of the 2005 Pilot Pen Tennis losing to Elena Dementieva. She then suffered back-to-back to loses to Shahar Pe'er at the second round of 2005 US Open and first round of 2005 China Open. She then fell at the quarterfinals of the 2005 Hansol Korea Open to top seed Jelena Jankovi? 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. She then lost in the first round of the 2005 Kremlin Cup to Elena Likhovtseva 3-6, 6-2, 7-5. She then avenged her lose to Jankovi? at the 2005 Generali Ladies Linz defeating the Serb 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-0 in the first round, but fell to Sybille Bammer in the next round.

Dushevina had a poor 2006 season. She reached in the second rounds of 2006 ASB Classic and 2006 Medibank International losing to top ten players Nadia Petrova and Justine Henin respectively. She then fell in the first round of the 2006 Australian Open to Catalina Castao in straight sets. She then fell in the second rounds of 2006 Open Gaz de France and 2006 Dubai Tennis Championships to then world no. 2 Amlie Mauresmo and then world no. 4 Maria Sharapova, respectively. She then suffered a back-to-back first round loss at the 2006 Qatar Total Open and 2006 NASDAQ-100 Open. She then earned her best performance of the year by reaching the third round of the 2006 Bausch & Lomb Championships losing to Patty Schnyder 6-3, 7-5. At the 2006 Estoril Open she was upset by Antonella Serra Zanetti 6-4, 6-4 in the first round. She then suffered 4 consecutive second round exits at the 2005 Qatar Total German Open and 2005 French Open to then world no. 1 Amlie Mauresmo, the 2006 Internazionali BNL d'Italia to Patty Schnyder, and the 2006 Hastings Direct International Championships to Anna-Lena Grnefeld. She then fell 5 consecutive first round main draw matches that she played. At the 2006 Wimbledon, 2006 JPMorgan Chase Open, 2006 Rogers Cup, 2006 US Open, and the 2006 China Open. She then reached the second rounds of the 2006 Hansol Korea Open and 2006 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships. She then suffered back-to-back main draw match to compatriot Vera Zvonareva, at the 2006 Kremlin Cup and 2006 Gaz de France Stars.

Two years later, she reached her second final at the Nordea Nordic Light Open, losing in straight sets to Agnieszka Radwa?ska. Dushevina reached the final of the Stockholm event again in 2007, losing to Caroline Wozniacki. Dushevina has won one doubles title, the Warsaw Open, playing with Tatiana Perebiynis in 2007. She was also a part of the winning Russian team in the 2005 Fed Cup, winning doubles ties in the quarterfinals and semifinals finals partnering Dinara Safina. Dushevina began writing a blog for Eurosport about her time on the tour in 2009.

In June 2009, at the Aegon International in Eastbourne, she lost in 45 minutes to Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-0, winning only 17 of the 69 points in the match, and losing every one of her service games..

Dushevina upset World No. 22 Aliz Cornet in the first round of the Wimbledon Championships, but fell to Elena Vesnina in the second.

Dushevina won her first WTA career title at the 2009 ?stanbul Cup defeating Lucie Hradeck 6-0, 6-1 in the final.

2010-2011

Dushevina started 2010 by qualifying in the 2010 Medibank International Sydney where she reached the quarterfinals with wins over Casey Dellacqua and Elena Vesnina, but lost to then world no. 1 Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. She then fell in the first round of the 2010 Australian Open to compatriot and 5th seed Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-1. At the 2010 PTT Pattaya Open, she was upset in the second round by world no. 121 Ekaterina Bychkova 6-4, 6-1. She then fell in the first rounds of 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships and 2010 Sony Ericsson Open and the second round of 2010 BNP Paribas Open.

She then reached the third round of the 2010 Family Circle Cup losing to eventual champion Samantha Stosur 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, but fell early in the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia to Andrea Petkovic 6-3, 6-0. In the second round of the 2010 Mutua Madrilea Madrid Open, Dushevina lost the most competitive match of her career against World No.1 Serena Williams. Williams finally won 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(5) after 3 hours and 26 minutes despite being 5-2 up in the final set. Dushevina had match point at 7-6(2), 6-5 but could not close out the match. She was also 4-0 up in the final set tie break before losing. It was also Williams' longest match. She then fell in the first rounds of the 2010 French Open and 2010 Aegon International. At Wimbledon 2010 she upset French Open Champion Francesca Schiavone 6-7(0), 7-5, 6-1 in the first round, but fell to eventual semi-finalist Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3, 6-4 in the following round.

She reached the back-to-back quarterfinals in the 2010 Banka Koper Slovenia Open and 2010 ?stanbul Cup losing to Anna Chakvetadze 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 and Jarmila Groth 7-5, 6-2, respectively. She then fell in the second round of the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open to Jelena Jankovi? 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. She then fell in the qualifying rounds of 2010 Rogers Cup and 2010 Pilot Pen Tennis. In the 2010 US Open she fell in the first round to Alona Bondarenko. In the 2010 Hansol Korea Open, she upset former world no. 1 Ana Ivanovic 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 but fell in the next round to Klra Zakopalov. She then reached the third round of the 2010 China Open as a qualifier losing to Francesca Schiavone 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. In her final tournament of the year at the 2010 Kremlin Cup, she was able to reach her first semifinal since winning in the 2009 ?stanbul Cup, she defeated 3 consecutive compatriots Ekaterina Makarova, Elena Vesnina and Anna Chakvetadze but fell to another compatriot Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-1.

Vera started 2011 by losing in the qualifying draw of the 2011 Medibank International Sydney. At the 2011 Australian Open she was able to pick up her 1st win in 6 years by defeating Maria Elena Camerin 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 but fell to 5th seed Samantha Stosur in the next round. She then fell in the first rounds of 2011 Open GDF Suez and 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships. She is currently playing at the 2011 Qatar Ladies Open, where she qualified and defeated Mara Jos Martnez Snchez 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(1) in the first round and lost to Daniela Hantuchov 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the second round.

2017: Retirement

Dushevina announced her retirement from professional tennis on 15 August 2017. The cause were several injuries which prevented her to continue playing. She will concentrate on coaching.

Personal life

Outside tennis, Vera also plays football and basketball. She is also a fan of Russian films.

Significant finals

Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 finals

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	2013	Beijing	Hard	Arantxa Parra Santonja	Cara Black Sania Mirza	2-6, 2-6

WTA career finals

Singles: 4 (1 title, 3 runners-up)

Winner "? Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0-0) WTA Tour Championships (0-0) Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0-0) Tier II / Premier (0-1) Tier III, IV & V / International (1-2)

Titles by Surface Hard (1-2) Clay (0-0) Grass (0-1) Carpet (0-0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in final	Score in final
Runner-up	1.	18 June 2005	Hastings Direct International Championships, Eastbourne, United Kingdom	Grass	Kim Clijsters	5-7, 0-6
Runner-up	2.	30 July 2007	Nordea Nordic Light Open, Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Agnieszka Radwa?ska	1-6, 1-6
Runner-up	3.	3 August 2008	Nordea Nordic Light Open, Stockholm, Sweden	Hard	Caroline Wozniacki	0-6, 2-6
Winner	1.	2 August 2009	?stanbul Cup, Istanbul, Turkey	Hard	Lucie Hradeck	6-0, 6-1

Doubles: 11 (2 titles, 9 runners-up)

Winner "? Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0-0) WTA Tour Championships (0-0) Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0-1) Tier II / Premier (1-2) Tier III, IV & V / International (1-6)

Titles by Surface Hard (0-8) Clay (1-0) Grass (0-0) Carpet (0-0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponent in final	Score in final
Winner	1.	30 April 2007	Warsaw Open, Warsaw, Poland	Clay	Tatiana Perebiynis	Elena Likhovtseva Elena Vesnina	7-5, 3-6, [10-2]
Runner-up	1.	27 July 2008	Banka Koper Slovenia Open, Portoro, Slovenia	Hard	Ekaterina Makarova	Anabel Medina Garrigues Virginia Ruano Pascual	4-6, 1-6
Runner-up	2.	22 September 2008	Hansol Korea Open, Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Maria Kirilenko	Chuang Chia-Jung Hsieh Su-wei	3-6, 0-6
Runner-up	3.	20 October 2008	Fortis Championships Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Hard	Mariya Koryttseva	Sorana Crstea Marina Erakovi?	6-2, 3-6, [8-10]
Runner-up	4.	13 February 2011	Open GDF Suez, Paris, France	Hard (i)	Ekaterina Makarova	Bethanie Mattek-Sands Meghann Shaughnessy	4-6, 2-6
Runner-up	5.	25 September 2011	Hansol Korea Open, Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Galina Voskoboeva	Natalie Grandin Vladimra Uhl?ov	6-7(5-7), 4-6
Runner-up	6.	25 February 2012	Cellular South Cup, Memphis, United States	Hard (i)	Olga Govortsova	Andrea Hlav?kov Lucie Hradeck	3-6, 4-6
Winner	2.	3 August 2013	Citi Open, Washington, D.C., United States	Hard	Shuko Aoyama	Eugenie Bouchard Taylor Townsend	6-3, 6-3
Runner-up	7.	5 October 2013	China Open, Beijing, China	Hard	Arantxa Parra Santonja	Cara Black Sania Mirza	2-6, 2-6
Runner-up	8.	3 October 2015	Tashkent Open, Tashkent, Uzbekistan	Hard	Kate?ina Siniakov	Margarita Gasparyan Alexandra Panova	1-6, 6-3, [3-10]
Runner-up	9.	14 February 2016	St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, St. Petersburg, Russia	Hard (i)	Barbora Krej?kov	Martina Hingis Sania Mirza	3-6, 1-6

Singles performance timeline

Tournament	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	W-L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	2R	4R	1R	1R	A	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	Q3	A	Q2	5-9
French Open	A	2R	1R	2R	2R	1R	1R	1R	2R	1R	LQ	Q1	Q3		4-9
Wimbledon	LQ	1R	1R	1R	2R	2R	2R	2R	1R	1R	LQ	Q1	A		4-9
US Open	1R	3R	2R	1R	3R	1R	1R	1R	2R	2R	1R	A	A		7-11
Win-Loss	0-1	4-4	4-4	1-4	4-4	1-3	1-4	1-4	3-4	1-4	0-2	0-0	0-0		20-38
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	NH	A	Not Held			A	Not Held			A	Not Held				0-0
Year-End Championship
WTA Tour Championships	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A		0-0
WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments
Indian Wells	A	A	A	A	A	A	3R	2R	1R	LQ	Q1	Q1	A		3-3
Miami	2R	3R	2R	1R	3R	A	1R	1R	1R	1R	A	A	A		6-9
Madrid	Not Held						QF	2R	1R	LQ	A	A	A		6-3
Beijing	Not Held						1R	3R	LQ	Q2	A	A	A		4-2
WTA Premier 5 Tournaments
Doha	A	1R	1R	1R	LQ	1R	Not Held		NP5	1R	1R	Q1	NP5		1-6
Dubai	Not Tier I						2R	1R	1R	NP5	Q1	Q1	A	NP5	1-3
Rome	A	2R	A	2R	A	1R	1R	1R	2R	LQ	A	A	A		3-6
Cincinnati	Not Tier I						1R	2R	A	Q1	A	A	A		3-2
Canada	A	A	A	1R	A	A	1R	LQ	A	A	A	A	A		2-3
Tokyo	A	A	A	A	LQ	LQ	2R	LQ	A	A	A	A	A		2-2
Win-Loss	29-10	27-18	28-20	22-26	40-21	20-18	34-20	31-22	20-20	12-12	4-10	0-1	0-0		329-249
Year-End Ranking	108	63	39	97	41	88	44	54	86	141	120	478	522

Doubles performance timeline

Tournament	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	W-L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open		1R	3R		2R	3R	1R	2R	2R		7-7
French Open	2R	1R	3R	1R	3R	2R	1R	2R	1R		7-9
Wimbledon	QF	2R	1R	2R	2R	2R	3R	1R	1R		9-9
US Open	2R	1R	2R	2R	2R	1R	2R	2R	1R		6-9
Win-Loss	5-3	1-4	5-4	2-3	5-4	4-4	3-4	3-4	1-4		29-34