Ekaterina Valeryevna Makarova (; ; born 7 June 1988) is a Russian former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles, and world No. 8 in singles.
She is a four-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2013 French Open, 2014 US Open and 2017 Wimbledon Championships in women's doubles, all alongside compatriot Elena Vesnina, as well as the 2012 US Open in mixed doubles with Bruno Soares. Makarova and Vesnina also finished runners-up at the 2014 and 2018 Australian Opens, 2015 Wimbledon Championships and 2016 French Open. She and Jaroslav Levinský reached the mixed doubles final at the 2010 Australian Open. In singles, Makarova achieved her best Grand Slam results at the 2014 US Open and 2015 Australian Open, where she reached the semifinals.
She became world No. 1 in doubles on 11 June 2018, and won 15 titles on the WTA Tour, including the 2016 WTA Finals and seven at Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 level. Makarova and Vesnina also won Olympic gold in 2016. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 on 6 April 2015, and won three WTA titles, most notably at the 2010 Eastbourne International. Makarova was also part of the Russian team which won the 2008 Fed Cup.
Early life Ekaterina Valeryevna Makarova was born to Valery and Olga in Moscow, Soviet Union. Her father is a banker and her mother a housewife. At age five or six she was sent by her parents to the Luzhniki per the recommendation of friends.
Career 2003–2005 In her first professional tournament in Elektrostal as a wildcard, she reached the quarterfinals losing to Olga Savchuk. At her last tournament of 2003 in Zhukovsky, Russia, she lost in the first round. She then played in Cairo, Egypt, reaching the second round as a qualifier. At Antalya, Turkey, she won her career first title over Kateryna Avdiyenko. Appearing at Felixstowe, Great Britain, she lost in the first round. At Târgu Mureş, Romania, Makarova claimed her second $10k title without dropping a set, defeating Simona Matei in the finals. In Moscow as a wildcard in the qualifier, she earned her first top 100 victory over Tatiana Perebiynis and Marta Domachowska, but lost to compatriot Anna Chakvetadze.
At Redbridge, Makarova lost to Baltacha in the semifinals. In the next tournament at St. Petersburg, she again reached semifinals, in which she lost to compatriot Ekaterina Bychkova. Bychkova beat her in the semifinal at the tournament in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France. In the second round of qualifying for the US Open she lost to Indian Shikha Uberoi. In her next tournaments, she was often reaching first rounds or losing in qualifying.
2006–2007 Her first tournament in 2006 was at Ortesei, in which as a qualifier she lost to Eva Birnerová in the first round. At Torrent, Spain, she reached the final, eventually losing to Romina Oprandi. At an ITF event in Moscow, she reached the final defeating Vesna Manasieva in the quarterfinals and Anna Lapushchenkova in the semifinals, before falling to Evgeniya Rodina.
Makarova began 2007 season losing to Olga Blahotová, at Tampa, Florida. In Moscow, she won the title with victories over Evgenia Grenbenyuk, and Evgeniya Rodina in the final. Makarova entered the qualifying draw for the French Open defeating Erika Takao but was defeated again by Raluca Olaru. Then, in Zagreb, she reached the semifinals, before losing to Kyra Nagy. Makarova then lost in qualifying for the Wimbledon Championships to Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová after defeating Lilia Osterloh. Makarova qualified for her first Grand Slam main draw at the US Open; in the main draw she defeated Julia Schruff and Ai Sugiyama, but lost to reigning world No. 1 and eventual champion, Justine Henin in straight sets. In her last tournament of the year in Minsk, she reached the second round, losing to Ekaterina Dzehalevich.
2008 Makarova began the year by losing in the qualifying round of the Sydney International. She earned her first win over a top 20 at the Australian Open, where she overcame No. 19 Ágnes Szávay. 14th seed Nadia Petrova hindered her way to the fourth round. In the opening season Makarova had a number of second round achievements, such as at the French Open. Makarova suffered consecutive first round losses at Wimbledon, the Slovenia Open, Nordic Light Open and Cincinnati Open. At the US Open she earned her first top-10 win over world No. 9, Anna Chakvetadze, until falling to Li Na.
2009
Makarova started the 2009 season at Sydney where she lost in the first round to third seed and eventual champion, Elena Dementieva. At the Australian Open, she was defeated in the second round by third seed, compatriot, and eventual finalist Dinara Safina.
At the Open GdF Suez, Makarova lost in the first round to Daniela Hantuchová. In Dubai, she was defeated in the first round by Sania Mirza. At the Indian Wells Open, she lost in the second round to 19th seed Anna Chakvetadze. Competing at the Miami Open, she reached the fourth round where she was defeated by Li Na.
Seeded sixth at the Morocco Open, Makarova reached her first WTA Tour singles final; she lost in a one-sided match to top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues. In doubles, she and Alisa Kleybanova made it to the final where they were defeated by Sorana Cîrstea and Maria Kirilenko. Seeded sixth at the Estoril Open, she made her second singles final where she lost to Yanina Wickmayer. At the French Open, she was defeated in the first round by 18th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues.
Seeded sixth in Birmingham, Makarova lost in the first round to Stefanie Vögele. Getting past qualifying at the Aegon International, she reached the quarterfinals where she was defeated by sixth seed and eventual champion, Caroline Wozniacki. At Wimbledon, she lost in round two to Carla Suárez Navarro. Seeded sixth in Palermo, Makarova was defeated in the second round by Olga Govortsova. Starting her US Open Series at the LA Women's Championships, Makarova lost in the second round to 17th seed Sabine Lisicki. In Cincinnati, she fell in the first round to qualifier Olga Govortsova. At the Rogers Cup, she was defeated in round one by Virginie Razzano. Playing at the Connecticut Open, she lost in the first round to compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. At the US Open, she was defeated in her opener by Gisela Dulko.
At the Korea Open, Makarova lost in the first round to eighth seed Sybille Bammer. In Tokyo, she was defeated in round one by 11th seed Agnieszka Radwańska. At the China Open, she made it to the second round where she lost to second seed Serena Williams. In doubles, she and Alla Kudryavtseva reached the final where they were defeated by Hsieh Su-wei/Peng Shuai. Her final tournament of the season was at home in Moscow where she suffered another first-round loss from Lucie Šafářová.
2010: WTA Tour title
Makarova started season at the Brisbane International where she lost in the first round to Alicia Molik. In Hobart, she was defeated in the first round by qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva without winning a single game. At the Australian Open, she lost in the second round to Sara Errani.
At the Eastbourne International, qualifier Makarova made it to the final without dropping a set. She triumphed over Victoria Azarenka in the final to earn her first WTA Tour title. Makarova defeated five top-20 players in the tournament, emerging victorious over No. 11 Flavia Pennetta, No. 13 Nadia Petrova, No. 20 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 7 Samantha Stosur, and No. 15 Victoria Azarenka. Makarova then made it to the second round at Wimbledon, but was beaten by second seed Venus Williams. In the US Open, she was defeated by Ana Ivanovic in the first round.
2011 Makarova caused an upset in the first round of the Australian Open when she defeated 19th seed Ana Ivanovic. It took three sets and 2 hours and 47 minutes. She then went on to defeat qualifier Lesia Tsurenko, and caused another upset by beating 13th seed Nadia Petrova. Makarova's career-best run at a Grand Slam tournament was ended in the fourth round by third seed and champion Kim Clijsters. At the Italian Open, Makarova upset defending champion María José Martínez Sánchez in the first round, but lost to eventual champion Maria Sharapova. Makarova would reach the fourth round of the French Open, before losing to fourth seed Victoria Azarenka. She lost her openers at Wimbledon and the US Open to Christina McHale and Maria Kirilenko, respectively.
2012: Breakthrough Makarova started at the Sydney International where she qualified, faced Li Na in the first round and lost. Then at the Australian Open in the second round, she defeated 25th seed Kaia Kanepi. In the third round, she defeated seventh seed Vera Zvonareva. In the round of 16, she defeated 13-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams to advance to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career. There she faced fourth seed and former champion Maria Sharapova and was defeated by the eventual finalist. Makarova lost in the second round at Indian Wells to Caroline Wozniacki after defeating American Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the opening round. She did well at Miami by reaching the fourth round where she lost to Sharapova again.
Makarova defeated 16th seed Maria Kirilenko at the Madrid Open in the second round, before losing to Lucie Hradecká in the third. At Rome, she defeated Francesca Schiavone before losing to Venus Williams in the second round. At the French Open, she lost her first match against Sloane Stephens.
The following week, she reached the semifinals of the Birmingham Classic, losing to Melanie Oudin. She reached the quarterfinals at Eastbourne but lost to Angelique Kerber. At Wimbledon, she defeated Alberta Brianti in the first round, before she was beaten again by Kerber.
Makarova reached the third round at the Cincinnati Open recording victories over Nadia Petrova and Anna Tatishvili, before losing to Samantha Stosur. At the US Open, Makarova lost to Serena Williams in the third round. She partnered with Brazilian Bruno Soares to win the mixed-doubles competition, defeating Květa Peschke and Marcin Matkowski in three sets in the final. It was her first Grand Slam title of any kind. After that, she reached the semifinals at Seoul where she lost to eventual champion Caroline Wozniacki.
At the China Open, Makarova defeated Kirilenko again in the first round but lost to Polona Hercog next. In the doubles event, she teamed up with Elena Vesnina and won defeating Nuria Llagostera Vives and Sania Mirza in the final. She lost to Dominika Cibulková in the first round at the Kremlin Cup.
2013: Doubles success
At Sydney, she defeated Varvara Lepchenko in the first round before succumbing to Dominika Cibulková. She reached her second consecutive quarterfinal at the Australian Open, recording victories over Marion Bartoli and Angelique Kerber. She then lost to Maria Sharapova again. At Doha, Makarova retired against Petra Kvitová in the second round.
Makarova lost her openers in Indian Wells and Miami receiving first-round byes to Garbiñe Muguruza and Svetlana Kuznetsova, respectively. She partnered Elena Vesnina in the doubles event at Indian Wells and won, defeating Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik in the final. She fell to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round at Porsche Tennis Grand Prix as well. At the Madrid Open, Makarova caused an upset in the second round when she defeated world No. 3, Victoria Azarenka (after winning only one game in the first set), ending the Belarusian's 18-match winning streak to start the season in the process.A fuming Victoria Azarenka crashes out of the Mutua Madrid Open after loss to Ekaterina Makarova, ESPN.co.uk, 8 May 2013 She had reached the quarterfinals after defeating Marion Bartoli but then lost to seventh seed Sara Errani, in straight sets. At the French Open, she lost her opening match to fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. She teamed up with Vesnina in doubles, winning the French Open doubles title.