Natasha Zvereva facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Natasha Zvereva

Native name	Наташа Зверaва
Country (sports)	Soviet Union (1988–1991),  CIS (1992),  Unified Team (1992),  Belarus (from 1993)
Residence	Minsk, Belarus
Born	(1971-04-16) 16 April 1971 (age 54) Minsk, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro	May 1988
Retired	2002
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$7,792,503
Int. Tennis HoF	2010 (member page)
Singles
Career record	434–252 (63.3%)
Career titles	4 WTA, 3 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 5 (22 May 1989)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	QF (1995)
French Open	F (1988)
Wimbledon	SF (1998)
US Open	QF (1993)
Doubles
Career record	714–170
Career titles	80 WTA, 3 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 1 (7 October 1991)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (1993, 1994, 1997)
French Open	W (1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997)
Wimbledon	W (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997)
US Open	W (1991, 1992, 1995, 1996)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	W (1993, 1994, 1998)
Mixed doubles
Career titles	2
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	W (1990, 1995)
Wimbledon	F (1991)
US Open	F (1990)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	59–21
Medal record Women's tennis Representing the  Unified Team Olympic Games Bronze 1992 Barcelona Doubles

Natalya "Natasha" Maratovna Zvereva (born April 16, 1971) is a famous former tennis player from Belarus. She was a very important athlete in the Soviet Union because she was the first to publicly ask to keep the money she earned from tournaments. Natasha Zvereva and her main doubles partner, Gigi Fernández, formed one of the most successful women's doubles teams ever, winning many major titles. In 2010, Natasha Zvereva was honored by being inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, along with Gigi Fernández.

Personal Life

Early Life and Tennis Start

Natasha Zvereva was born in Minsk, Belarus. Her parents, Marat Nikolayevich Zverev and Nina Grigoryevna Zvereva, were both tennis teachers. They encouraged her to start playing tennis when she was seven years old. In 1994, she officially changed her name to Natasha Zvereva. When she was 18, someone asked her what her symbol of success was. She famously said, "A red Mercedes-Benz, a big one."

Career

Junior Tennis Success

As a young player, Natasha Zvereva was incredibly successful. She won the Wimbledon girls' singles title twice, in 1986 and 1987. In 1987, she also won the US Open and French Open girls' singles titles. This made her one of only two players to win three or more junior singles titles in one year.

Professional Career Highlights

After becoming a professional player, Natasha Zvereva won four singles titles and 80 doubles titles on the WTA Tour. A remarkable 18 of her doubles titles were Grand Slam tournaments. She won five at Wimbledon, four at the US Open, five at the French Open, and four at the Australian Open. She achieved these wins with four different partners: Gigi Fernández, Martina Hingis, Pam Shriver, and Larisa Savchenko Neiland. She even managed to win a "non-calendar year Grand Slam" twice. This means she won all four major tournaments in a row, but not all in the same calendar year. She did this in 1992–93 and again in 1996–97 with Gigi Fernández and Martina Hingis.

In addition to her Grand Slam doubles titles, Natasha Zvereva won a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. She teamed up with Leila Meskhi for this achievement.

Memorable Matches

When she was just 17, Natasha Zvereva reached her only Grand Slam singles final at the 1988 French Open. On her way to the final, she beat the famous player Martina Navratilova. In the final match, she played against Steffi Graf and lost 6-0, 6-0 in only 34 minutes. This was the shortest Grand Slam final in the Open Era of tennis.

Ten years later, at Wimbledon in 1998, Natasha Zvereva had another memorable tournament. She defeated Steffi Graf in the third round, which was her only win against Graf in 21 singles matches. She also beat Monica Seles in the quarterfinals. Both Graf and Seles were former world number one players. Natasha Zvereva reached the semifinals of that tournament, which was her second-best Grand Slam singles result.

Natasha Zvereva also won two mixed doubles titles at the Australian Open. She won with Jim Pugh in 1990 and with Rick Leach in 1995.

She retired from professional tennis in 2003. Her last Grand Slam appearance was at Wimbledon in 2002.

Playing Style

How Natasha Played Tennis

Natasha Zvereva played with a "baseline, counter-punching" style. This means she usually stayed at the back of the court and hit the ball back to her opponent. She used a lot of topspin and had a strong two-handed backhand. She was also good at using different types of spins and was willing to come to the net to hit volleys. Even though she was very talented, sometimes she would lose focus during matches or doubt herself when playing singles.

Achievements

Grand Slam Finals

• Singles: 1 final (1988 French Open runner-up)
• Doubles: 31 finals (18 titles, 13 runner-ups)
• Mixed Doubles: 4 finals (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Olympic Games

• Doubles: Bronze medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics

Year-End Championships

• Doubles: 6 finals (3 titles, 3 runner-ups)

WTA Career Finals

• Singles: 19 finals (4 titles, 15 runner-ups)
• Doubles: 129 finals (80 titles, 49 runner-ups)

ITF Finals

• Singles: 4 finals (3 titles, 1 runner-up)
• Doubles: 4 finals (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

Other Finals

• Singles: 3 titles at USSR Tennis National Championships
• Doubles: 2 titles at USSR Tennis National Championships
• Mixed: 1 title at USSR Tennis National Championships

See also

In Spanish: Natasha Zvéreva para niños