At 41, Zvonareva finds room for one more chapter at the Australian Open

A pair of 40-year-olds -- one in the women’s draw and one in the men’s -- have been in the spotlight during the first week of the 2026 Australian Open. Venus Williams, 45, became the oldest woman to compete in the singles main draw at the season-opening Grand Slam. On the men’s side, Stan Wawrinka became the first player aged 40 or over to reach the third round at a major since Ken Rosewall at the 1978 Australian Open.

But another veteran in her early 40s is also competing at Melbourne Park and remains alive on the middle Sunday of the main draw.

Forty-one-year-old Vera Zvonareva made a low-key comeback at the ITF W100 in Dubai in December, marking her first professional tournament since June 2024. Like Williams and Wawrinka, Zvonareva has played on the sport’s biggest stages against its biggest names. She peaked at No. 2 in the singles rankings in 2010 -- the same year she finished runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Though Zvonareva never won a Grand Slam singles title, she owns plenty of major silverware. She has won three women’s doubles and two mixed doubles titles at the majors, most recently capturing the 2020 U.S. Open women’s doubles crown.

But after returning from surgery that forced her to stop competing in 2024, Zvonareva is taking things as they come.

"There was always a question if my body can handle it or not," Zvonareva told the wtatennis.com from Melbourne. "I had another surgery in 2024, that's why I stopped. I still enjoy hitting the ball. I was coaching a little bit and if my body allowed, I wanted to try to play a little bit.

"As long as I'm still enjoying it, that's the most important thing. I do enjoy playing matches myself and for now, my body does allow me to compete so I'm happy to be back on tour. I had a protected ranking and that obviously helps because I can get into some tournaments and play against a lot of new girls on tour. But at the same time, there's still a lot of girls that I played with before and I'm enjoying the competition."

The lack of a defined timetable or long-term plan has kept things simple for the 12-time WTA singles title winner.

"I think I was never in a rush," she said. "I was taking my time and enjoying my time off the tour as well. I was thinking maybe I will come back, maybe not. But then as soon as the opportunity came up, I tried. I'm still trying. I don't know how long I can compete, but like I said, as long as my body allows me to do so I want to be competing and playing."

How her coaching experience is helping her own game

During her time away from the tour, Zvonareva explored coaching. While she is unsure whether that path will feature in her future once she stops playing, she believes the experience has helped her own game.

"I'm enjoying coaching as well. It's a bit different and obviously I still need to build my experience in that, but I've had a good amount of time to explore coaching and with different levels of players. I think it also helps me to be a better player as well, because you're a bit on the other side and you see things differently. I can kind of tell myself certain things when I'm on the court, not just as a player, but as a coach and that's very interesting."

Since her comeback, Zvonareva has reached the singles and doubles finals at the ITF W100 Dubai in December and the doubles final at the WTA 125K in Canberra earlier this month. The former World No. 2 plans to continue mixing it up, though she acknowledges doubles is likely to be her priority at this stage of her career.

"Wherever I can, I play some singles because I'm enjoying it," she said. "And my doubles ranking is much higher. So that allows me to play bigger tournaments. So I'll try to manage both a little bit. But I think doubles is my priority at this stage of my career."

Still enjoying the competition

Reaching one singles and two doubles finals in her first three tournaments back has boosted Zvonareva’s confidence and reinforced her belief that she can still compete at this level.

"Definitely that helped me a lot to get back in the game and to realize that I still have the level," Zvonareva said. "Obviously, I need to work hard to maintain it, but I still have the level to play. The most important thing for me was to be on the court to experience those tough situations and to understand that I'm still enjoying competing. That was the most important thing. And I think I've done really well just taking it one tournament at a time."

Happy to be back at the Happy Slam

Melbourne holds happy memories for the 2008 Beijing Olympics bronze medalist. She won the women’s doubles title here in 2012 and reached the singles semifinals in 2009 and 2011. Back at the Australian Open for the first time since 2022, Zvonareva -- partnering Japan’s Ena Shibahara -- is through to the third round of the women’s doubles event. The pair defeated 10th seeds Diana Shnaider and Liudmila Samsonova in the first round and local wild cards Taylah Preston and Lizette Cabrera in the second.

"I always loved playing in Australia and I've had some great results here in the past," Zvonareva said. "I'm enjoying this moment. It's a bit windy, but it's part of the game, but I'm enjoying my time."