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It was Anna Kournikovaâs celebrity status that sparked wide spread interest in womenâs tennis at the turn of the century. While the former World No:1 doubles playerâs career ended in premature retirement at age 21, others from her country took up the mantle to keep the Russian flag flying high.It all began again in glorious fashion in 2004, when three out of the four Grandslams in the WTA tour were won by Russians with two finals being all Russian affairs. They also captured 15 WTA titles on the tour that season and the year end WTA rankings had four Russians inside the Top 6.There has been a steady influx of top class Russian players in to women’s tennis over the past decadeMaria Sharapova became the first Russian to reach World No 1 in 2005 and was followed by Dinara Safina in 2009. Russia dominated the Fed Cup during that period, winning four times.Things have changed drastically since. There is currently only one Russian – Maria Sharapova – in the WTA top 20, and the national team has not won the Fed Cup in seven years. This list takes a look back at those players who initiated the Russian Revolution and explores what they are currently up to.
#1 Anna Kournikova
The one that began it all – Anna Kournikova brought glamour back to women’s tennis during the mid-nineties, and sowed the seeds for more Russian female players to enter the WTA tour.
Kournikova’s name was consistently in the top 10 yearly Google Image searches through out her career and she was the main reason for the huge increase in sponsors as well as spectators for the women’s game during the time.
There are many who dismiss Kournikova’s tennis achievements due to her failure to win a WTA singles title,but nothing can be farther from the truth.
The then-15 year old Muscovite made her Slam debut at the 1996 US Open, reaching the fourth round only to lose to Steffi Graff. She would win the prestigious WTA New comer of the Year award that season to underline her credentials.
In 1997, she went one better, etching her name in to the history books as the youngest player to reach a Wimbledon semifinal (a record that still stands) before losing to eventual winner Martina Hingis.
Her ranking would consistently improve and she would reach a career high No 8 in 2000.
She would be even more successful in doubles, teaming up with Hingis to capture the 1999 and 2002 Australian Open titles and climbing to World Number 1 in November 1999.
A string of injuries would force her to leave the tour in 2003 at the age of just 21. She earned USD 3.8 million as career prize money but that remains only a fraction of what she continues to make through endorsement deals.
Since 2003, Kournikova has played a number of exhibition matches for charity in addition to appearing in various television gigs. She also serves as a global ambassador for Population Services International’s ‘Five & Alive’ program which addresses health issues of children under the age of five.
Trivia: So high was Kournikova’s popularity that a computer virus masquerading as an image of her affected the mailboxes of thousands of people around the world in 2001.
#2 Anastasia Myskina
Anastasia Myskina owns a number of famous firsts in Russian tennis history – she was the first Russian woman to win the home Kremlin Cup, the first to crack the Top 3 in the rankings and most significantly, the first ever Russian woman to capture a Grand Slam title.
That famous victory at the 2004 French Open ignited the Russian revolution in women’s tennis. Myskina would hold her nerve to save match points in the quarter final victory over countrywoman Svetlana Kuznetsova before seeing off former world number 1s Venus Williams and Jennifer Capriati in the ensuing rounds to set up a meeting with compatriot Elena Dementieva in the final.
Dementieva would be dispatched off in emphatic fashion (6-1,6-2) and Myskina would collect the prestigious Coupe Suzanne Lenglen to announce the advent of the Russians to women’s tennis forefront. She would reach a career high ranking of Number 2 soon after.
Myskina would spearhead Russia’s Fed Cup campaign that season, winning 8 out of 9 matches she played. The Muscovite would win both her singles matches in straight sets in the final before teaming up with Vera Zvonareva to triumph in the decisive doubles match as Russia would edge France 3-2 to record their first ever title.
She would have mixed fortunes in the following years.Despite helping Russia to another Fed Cup triumph in 2005,injuries would force her off the court in 2007.
She has made a return to tennis as the Captain of the Russian Fed Cup team and has already led the team to the final where they would meet the Czech Republic on November 2015.
#3 Elena Dementieva
Elena Dementieva was the most consistent performer among the Russians, underlined by her constant presence in the Top 10 rankings from 2003 until her retirement in 2010.
She would announce her arrival in world tennis by upsetting Venus Williams in a Fed Cup match in 1999. A year later, she would become the first Russian woman to reach the US Open semifinals in addition to capturing the Olympic Silver medal at the 2000 Olympics. She would be named WTA’s Most Improved Player that year and would overtake Anna Kournikova as the top ranked Russian player in 2001, a position that Kournikova had held for the previous four years.
Dementieva would capture the doubles title at the year-end WTA Tour Championships in 2002 partnering Janette Husarova and reach a career high No:6 in doubles in 2003.
She would reach two grand slam finals in the famous 2004 season, going on to be thrashed by Myskina at the French Open after committing ten double faults. She would be beaten by compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova in the US Open final that season as well.
She would bounce back in the 2005 season where she would almost single handedly help Russia retain the Fed Cup, winning both her singles matches as well as the decisive doubles with Dinara Safina in the final. How ever, faliure to reach another Grandslam final would be frustrating for Dementieva who would drop out of the year end Top 10 rankings for the first time in five years in 2007.
The Muscovite would work on her game, improving her most apparent weakness – her serve – and have a memorable 2008 season where she would win the Gold medal for Russia at the Beijing Olympics.
Dementieva would reach a career high world ranking of Number 3 in 2009. She announced her retirement after a loss to Francesca Schiavone at the 2010 WTA Tour Championships and ended her career with 16 WTA tour titles,having reached at least the semifinals of all Grandslam tournaments.
#4 Maria Sharapova
The only member of the ‘Russian Revolution’ to still be in the Top 10, the current World No 3 is by far the most successful Russian female player of all time. Sharapova has won five Grand Slam titles and is the only Russian and the tenth female player in tennis history to capture all four major championships.
WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2003, Sharapova would become an overnight sensation when she upset Serena Williams to capture the Wimbldon title in 2004. ‘Maria Mania’ swept through the media and soon she was hailed as the second coming of endorsement magent Kournikova.
Despite signing multi-million dollar deals, Sharapova would keep her focus on court, beating Williams once again in that season’s year end championships final and making history by becoming the first Russian to be ranked World No 1 in 2005.
Sharapova would beat Justine Henin to capture the 2006 US Open and Ana Ivanovic to win the 2008 Australian Open titles en route to reaching the top of the rankings for a second time.
A shoulder injury would slow down her progress over the next three years and Sharapova endured frustrating losses in the finals of the 2011 Wimbeldon and the 2012 Australian Open.
However, she turned the tide by completing a career Grandslam at the 2012 French Open, making the tournament her own. She reached the final in both 2013 and 2014, the latter seeing her lift the trophy for her fifth major overall.
Long criticised for her perceived lack of commitment for Fed Cup matches, Sharapova has not been part of any of the four victorious Russian squads of the past decade. She did, however, win the Olympic Silver medal for Russia at the 2012 Olympics.
An endorsement juggernaut, Sharapova has topped the Forbes list for the highest paid female athlete in the world every year from 2006. She has signed deals with brands like Porsche,Motorola,Canon and Tag Heuer in addition to being featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. She also has her own clothing line and a candy line named ‘Sugarpova’.
#5 Svetlana Kuznetsova
The third Russian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, Svetlana Kuznetsova is the only player from the country to win Slam titles in singles as well as doubles.
At age seven, Kuznetsova shifted base from Russia to Spain to join the Sanchez Casal Academy run by former World number 1 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. So impressed was Sanchez Vicario with the young Russian that she handpicked Kuznetsova to be her doubles partner. The pair would go on to win five WTA titles.
Kuznetsova’s singles career soon took more prominence and the Russian gradually established herself as a dark horse at the majors. Seeded ninth at the 2004 US Open, Kuznetsova would end Lindsay Davenport’s 22 match unbeaten streak in the semifinals before winning the whole thing by defeating compatriot Dementieva in the final.
It would take five long years for Kuznetsova to capture her second Grandslam title and it came at the 2009 French Open with a victory against another Russian – Dinara Safina – in the final.
Kuznetsova would capture two doubles slams as well, both of them coming at the Australian Open (2005 and 2012) partnering Alicia Molik and Vera Zvonareva respectively.
She was also the singles runner up at the 2006 French and 2007 US Open and reached a career high No:2 WTA ranking in 2007.
Kuznetsova has been the most successful player in Fed Cup finals for Russia. She has been part of three Russian Fed Cup winning teams – 2004,2007 and 2008 – winning both her singles matches at the last two events to set up her nation’s victory.
The St. Petersburg native is currently ranked 33 in the world.
#6 Nadia Petrova
Nadia Petrova’s best performances at Grand Slams were her two semi final appearances at the French Open in 2003 and 2005. An integral member of the Russian wave that hit the game in the 2000s, Petrova would beat Monica Seles and Jennifer Capraiti during her French Open run in 2003 before running in to Kim Clijsters in the semi final. Clijsters’ compatriot Justine Henin would eliminate Petrova at the 2005 event.
Petrova was equally proficient in singles and doubles, winning a combined 40 WTA titles. Even though she was not able to win a grand slam in either format – her only final appearance at the 2012 French Open doubles ended in defeat – she still reached a career high ranking of no 3 in singles as well as doubles. Petrova has won an Olympic Bronze medal for Russia at the 2012 Olympics partnering Maria Kirilenko.
Her greatest tournement triumphs include winning the WTA Year end championships twice (2004 and 2012) in the doubles category.
Petrova was part of the victorious Russian team at the 2007 Fed Cup winning a singles as well as a doubles match in the final.
Currently ranked 578th in the world in singles, Petrova hasn’t played in a tournament in 2015.
#7 Vera Zvonareva
A singles finalist at the 2010 Wimbledon and US Open, Vera Zvonareva has captured two grand slam titles each at women’s doubles and mixed doubles events ensuring that she has been a winner in some discipline at every Grandslam tournament.
Zvonareva’s first two major titles came at the mixed doubles level at the 2004 US Open and the 2006 Wimbledon. She would partner Nathalie Dechy to win the US Open doubles in 2006, and compatriot Kuznetsova would be her partner at the victorious 2012 Australian Open campaign.
She is a dangerous singles player as well, having reached a career high 2nd in the WTA rankings in 2010. That year, she reached two consecutive Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and the US Open. However,straight sets defeats to Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters would end her hopes of a first major singles title.
She would beat Li Na to win Bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and finished runner-up to Venus Williams at the year-end championships that season.
Zvonareva was a part of the successful Russian Fed Cup teams in 2004 and 2008.
Zvonareva missed most of 2005 and 2007 due to injuries and had to have shoulder surgery in 2013, ruling her out for the year. She is currently ranked 181, and last competed in a Grandslam at the 2015 Australian Open.
#8 Dinara Safina
Dinara Safina is the only Russian player other than Sharapova to have been ranked No1 in the world. The younger sister of former men’s No 1 Marat Safin, Dinara was in extraordinary form during 2008-09.
Her heroic performance at the 2008 French Open was widely applauded with the then 22 year old saving a match point during her upset of the World No. 1 Sharapova in the fourth round. Safina would pull off another upset in the next round against Dementieva, coming back from a set and 2-5 down to win. She would march on to the final where her run was ended by Ana Ivanovic.
Safina would grow in confidence and would be the best women’s player over the better part of the next two years.Sadly, she would fail to capture a Grandslam title during the time, losing in the title match at the 2009 Australian and French Opens.She would also lose in the Gold medal match at the 2008 Olympics to compatriot Dementieva as well as the 2009 Hopman cup final (partnering her brother Marat).
Her only moment of glory at Grand Slams would be the 2007 US Open doubles title, which she won partnering Nathalie Dechy. Safina was also part of the victorious Russian Fed Cup team of 2005, where she partnered Elena Dementieva to win the deciding doubles match against France in the final.
Her performances over the past two years would lead to her capturing the No:1 ranking in 2009, but she failed to make it past the fourth round of any Grand Slam event in 2010.
Chronic back injury soon derailed young Safina’s career and after not competing for two years, she announced her retirement from tennis in 2014. She had won 12 WTA singles titles at the time.
Safina is currently working as the women’s representative for the Madrid Masters tournament.
#9 Anna Chakvetadze
Anna Chakvetadze would turn heads in 2004 when, as a 17 -year-old, she would oust reigning French Open champion Myskina from the US Open. Her ranking would steadily rise and she would capture her maiden Tier I event at the Kremlin Cup of 2006, beating Dementieva and Petrova en route.
She had an even better season in 2007, when she captured four WTA titles and rise to a career high No 5. She qualified for the year-end championships that season, where she would defeat Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic before losing to Sharapova in the semi finals. She was also part of the victorious Russian Fed Cup team that season.
Later that year, Chakvetadze’s world turned upside down following a home invasion and robbery when six thugs tied her up and escaped with USD 300,000 worth of goods and cash. She shook off the horrible incident to capture her seventh WTA tour title at Open GDF Suez in 2008.
However, injuries soon took their toll on the talented Russian, who collapsed during a match against Caroline Wozniacki at the Dubai Tennis Championship due to a viral illness.
Persistent back problems would force Chakvetadze to announce her retirement from tennis in 2013. She is currently a tennis commentator for Eurosport.
#10 Maria Kirilenko
The talented Kirilenko played exciting tennis, winning six WTA titles. She was beaten in the bronze medal match of the 2012 Olympics by Victoria Azarenka, but would team up with Nadia Petrova to capture the same medal in the doubles section, coming back from a set down to beat the experienced duo of Lisa Raymond and Liezel Huber.
Kirilenko would not make the semi finals of any major singles tournament, but a steady 2013 season would allow her to crack the singles Top 10 in June.
She would be a losing finalist in two grand slam doubles events before partnering Petrova to capture the 2012 WTA Year end championships.
