Yaroslava Vyacheslavovna Shvedova (; born 12 September 1987) is a Kazakhstani former professional tennis player. Before 2008, she represented her country of birth, Russia.
She won one singles title on the WTA Tour and 13 career doubles titles, plus one singles and one doubles title on WTA 125 tournaments, as well as four singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 29 October 2012, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 25. On 22 February 2016, she peaked at No. 3 in the WTA doubles rankings.
Shvedova made three major singles quarterfinals: at the 2010 and the 2012 French Open, and also at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships. She won two Grand Slam women's doubles titles, at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships and the 2010 US Open, partnering American player Vania King in both. Shvedova is also one of only seven players to record a golden set (i.e. a set in which every point is won by the same player) in the Open era. She achieved this feat in 2012 at Wimbledon in her match against Sara Errani, the only time a golden set was recorded in a Grand Slam championship.
Career 2006–2008: Major debut, maiden career title, top 100 In February 2007, she unexpectedly reached the final of the Bangalore Open, beating home-crowd favourite and No. 2 seed Sania Mirza in the quarterfinals. In the final, she defeated top-seeded defending champion Mara Santangelo in straight sets, to win her first WTA Tour title. This win caused her to be in the top 100 for the first time, at 78.
At the 2007 Miami Open, she came through qualifying and impressively recorded her first-ever top 20 win over future No. 1, Ana Ivanovic, in the second round, beating her in two sets. However, Tathiana Garbin beat her in the third round.
In August 2008, she won an ITF Circuit title in Monterrey, Mexico, defeating Magdaléna Rybáriková in the final in two sets. Just over a week later, she won through the qualifying rounds for US Open, but lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in the first round.ITF tennis profile: Activity
2009: French Open and US Open third rounds
In 2009, Shvedova qualified for the main draw at Roland Garros, defeating Americans Shenay Perry in the first qualifying round and Angela Haynes in the second. She then beat Elena Baltacha in the final qualifying round to enter the main draw. She beat Kaia Kanepi and advanced to the third round after defeating Arantxa Rus, also a qualifier. There, she lost in a close three-sets match to former world No. 1, Maria Sharapova, returning from a long-lasting shoulder injury and then ranked 102.
At Wimbledon, she faced Monica Niculescu in the first round and defeated her with the loss of just one game, but lost to American teenager Melanie Oudin in the second. At the US Open, Shvedova pulled off the biggest win of her career by beating then No. 5 Jelena Janković in three sets, in a match where she saved two match points.
2010: Two major doubles titles & one singles quarterfinal Shvedova experienced a good run at the Miami Open. She gained direct entry into the main draw and won a tight first-round match against wildcard Ajla Tomljanović. She then defeated 23rd seed Sabine Lisicki in the second round after she retired whilst trailing 3–6, 1–0. In the third round, Shvedova advanced against unseeded Andrea Petkovic by winning another close match. She fell to sixth seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the fourth round, in straight sets.
At the Barcelona Open, Shvedova defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues in the first round before upsetting fourth-seeded Maria Kirilenko in the second. Next, she defeated Iveta Benešová, before falling to eventual tournament and the eventual French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the semifinals.
Shvedova enjoyed arguably her best career result at the French Open. There, she advanced to the quarterfinals in the singles competition. She defeated eighth seed Agnieszka Radwańska, avenging her loss to her in Miami, en route to the quarterfinals. As the last unseeded player in the tournament, Shvedova was defeated by fourth seed Jelena Janković in the quarterfinal. In mixed doubles, she partnered with Julian Knowle to reach the final, beating doubles legends Cara Black and Leander Paes, the second seeds, along the way. They fell in a close final to sixth seeds Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonjić.
At the Wimbledon Championships, Shvedova entered the doubles competition unseeded with partner Vania King. The two began playing together at the start of the grass-court season two weeks before, and were only in their third event together. In a stunning string of upsets, Shvedova and King won the tournament, beating Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva (who themselves beat Serena and Venus Williams in the quarterfinals) in the final.
Both Shvedova and King continued their good form onto the hardcourts of the US Open. Seeded sixth, the team continued to win match after match, before taking a spot in their second consecutive major final, this time facing Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova. King and Shvedova won in three sets; the match was played over two days due to heavy rainfall.
2011
Shvedova began her season representing Kazakhstan at the Hopman Cup. She lost her first match to Ana Ivanovic in two sets. During her match against Ivanovic, Shvedova injured her right knee which caused her to pull out of the Hopman Cup. Shvedova also missed the Australian Open due to the same right knee injury.
She returned from injury in February to play at Dubai where she lost in the first round to Zhang Shuai. She went to play at the Qatar Open; seeded fifth for qualifying, she was defeated in the first round by wildcard Elena Vesnina. In March, she travelled to Indian Wells where she lost in the first round to Kimiko Date-Krumm. At the Miami Open, after beating Sara Errani Shvedova retired in her second-round match against 28th seed Jarmila Groth due to a left thigh muscle strain.
She began her clay-court season in Morocco at the Rabat Grand Prix. Seeded second, she was defeated in the second round by Anastasia Pivovarova. At the Barcelona Open, Shvedova lost in the second round to sixth seed and eventual champion Roberta Vinci. Playing at the Madrid Open, Shvedova lost in the first round to 10th seed Agnieszka Radwańska. At the Italian Open, she lost in the first round to qualifier Anastasia Rodionova in straight sets. In doubles, she and Vania King reached the final where they lost to Peng Shuai and Zheng Jie, also in straight sets. Shvedova entered the French Open ranked No. 54 and lost in the first round to 14th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. As a result of not defending her quarterfinalist points from the previous year, her ranking dropped to No. 115. In doubles, she and her regular doubles partner, Vania King, reached the semifinals where they fell to eventual champions Andrea Hlaváčková/Lucie Hradecká in two sets.
Shvedova began grass-court season at the Birmingham Classic seeded 11th, and lost in the second round to Marina Erakovic. At the Eastbourne International, she lost in the first round of qualifying to Mirjana Lučić-Baroni. Ranked world No. 123 at Wimbledon, she was easily defeated in the first round by qualifier Tamarine Tanasugarn.
Shvedova began wearing prescription sports glasses, after seeking medical advice about a nervous tic in one eye.
She started her US Open Series at the Washington Open and was defeated in the first round by sixth seed Elena Baltacha. In doubles, Shvedova and Sania Mirza won the title defeating Olga Govortsova/Alla Kudryavtseva in the final. Ranked world No. 143 at the Vancouver Open, Shvedova lost in the first round to seventh seed Stéphanie Dubois. She then played at the Bronx Open where she reached the second round and lost to Romina Oprandi, after retiring early in the second set. Due to her ranking of 212, Shvedova had to play qualifying in order to make it into the main draw of the US Open. She lost in the first round of qualifying to Ekaterina Bychkova in two tie-breakers. In doubles, she and Vania King were the defending champions; they reached the final for a second year in a row but lost to Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond.
Seeded eighth for qualifying at the Korea Open, Shvedova qualified for the main draw beating wildcard Choi Ji-hee, Han Sung-hee, and third seed Rika Fujiwara. In the first round, she upset Tamarine Tanasugarn. In the second round, Shvedova retired after losing the first set 6–7 to fourth seed Dominika Cibulková. She qualified for the Japan Women's Open, defeating sixth seed Kristina Mladenovic, wildcard Risa Ozaki, and Hsieh Su-wei. Shvedova was defeated in the second round by seventh seed Chanelle Scheepers. In doubles, she and Vania King advanced to the final where they lost to Date-Krumm/Zhang. Shvedova played her final tournament of the year at the Taipei Ladies Open. She reached the quarterfinals but lost to eighth seed Chang Kai-chen, in straight sets.
Shvedova ended the year as No. 206, her lowest year-end singles ranking since 2005. She also won four WTA Tour doubles titles. Her decline in form in singles was explained by a knee injury that required surgery.
2012
Shvedova started the year playing qualifying at the Australian Open. She lost in the first round of qualifying to Bibiane Schoofs in a marathon three-set match.
She then rebounded, qualifying into the main draw at Copa Colsanitas defeating Raluca Olaru and Leticia Costas. In the main draw, Shvedova reached the quarterfinals where she fell to Tímea Babos. Receiving a wildcard to play at the Monterrey Open, she beat countrywoman Sesil Karatantcheva in the first round. She lost to Mandy Minella in the second round in three sets. At the Abierto Mexicano, Shvedova retired due to a left thigh injury in the final round of qualifying to top seed Edina Gallovits-Hall. Seeded fourth at the $25k event in Irapuato, she reached the final where she lost to sixth seed Kiki Bertens. Shvedova continued her rise in form at another $25K event in Poza Rica, where she won the title beating Monica Puig in the final.
Shvedova started her clay-court season by playing qualifying at the Charleston Open. Seeded 20th for qualifying, she qualified for the main draw defeating Jessica Pegula and tenth seed Andrea Hlaváčková. In the main draw, she reached the third round by defeating Alexandra Panova and 12th seed Yanina Wickmayer. In the third round, she lost to sixth seed Sabine Lisicki. Seeded seventh for qualifying at the Rabat Grand Prix, Shvedova lost in the second round of qualifying to Bianca Botto. At the Portugal Open, she was defeated in the first round of qualifying by Bianca Botto. Due to having a low ranking, Shvedova played qualifying at the French Open and won against Ajla Tomljanović, CoCo Vandeweghe, and Elena Bogdan. In the main draw, she defeated Mandy Minella, Sofia Arvidsson, and Carla Suárez Navarro in the first three rounds. In the fourth round, she upset seventh seed and defending champion Li Na, 3–6, 6–2, 6–0, the biggest win of her career in singles, to advance to her second French Open quarterfinal. There, she lost to fourth seed and reigning Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitová, in three sets. Due to making the quarterfinals at the French Open, Shvedova's ranking went from 142 to 62. In doubles, she and Vania King reached the quarterfinals, before losing to seventh seeds and eventual finalists Maria Kirilenko/Nadia Petrova.