Elena
Vesnina had her resurgent season, breaking into the Top 20 and setting a new
career-high ranking, and reaching her 1st ever Grand Slam semifinal.
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| Vesnina in Brisbane. Photo by Getty Images |
Singles
She had an
up and down start to the season, after successfully qualifying for the main
draw in Brisbane, only to be unlucky to draw eventual champion Victoria
Azarenka in the first round. However, she fell in the first round of qualifying
at the Australian Open to Zhu Lin with the final set ending 9-7 in Zhu’s
favour. This defeat also prevented Vesnina from keeping her 40 consecutive main
draw appearances at Grand Slams streak going, and keeping her out from a Grand
Slam main draw since 2005.
Her
resurgence started at the Qatar Total Open, qualifying for the main draw. As a
qualifier and the World No. 118, she created 3 consecutive upsets, which
includes a straight-sets win over Caroline Garcia, coming back from 6-7, 1-4
down to come out victorious against Simona Halep for her career-best win, and a
tough 3 set win over former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki. Her dream run came
to an abrupt stop after a spirited loss against eventual champion Carla Suarez
Navarro in the quarterfinal.
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| Vesnina at the Qatar Total Open. Photo by Getty Images. |
Vesnina
also performed well in Miami, having fell in the first round of qualifying in
Indian Wells. In Miami, she powered through the qualifying draw and
qualified for the main draw in style, not losing more than 4 games in a match.
In the first round of the main draw, Vesnina overcame a stubborn opponent in
Jana Cepelova to set up a meeting with 7 time Grand Slam champion Venus
Williams. There, she created another massive upset when she beat Williams in 3
sets despite having a match point in the second set. She then faced in-form
Britain Johanna Konta, and suffered a tough loss in 3 sets despite winning the
first set.
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| Vesnina in Miami. Photo by Getty Images |
Her good
run continued in Charleston, where she qualified for the main draw easily. In
the main draw, she defeated fellow qualifier Cindy Burger in straight sets
despite a tough first set. In the second round, she triumphed against 2nd
seed and World No.10 Belinda Bencic 6-1 6-1 in just 56 minutes to create a huge
shock. She then powered her way through to the semifinals after defeating
Lourdes Dominguez Lino and Laura Siegemund. In the semifinals, she created
another upset when she defeated clay court specialist Sara Errani in 3 sets to
reach her biggest final since 2013. Nearly 12 hours of play finally had an
effect on Vesnina’s body as her dream run ended in the hands of Sloane Stephens
in the final after losing in straight sets despite serving for the first set.
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| Vesnina posing with her runners-up trophy in Charleston. Photo by Daniel Ward. |
Vesnina
had a bright start to the (red) clay court season in Madrid. Vesnina once again
came through qualifying to reach the main draw, and reached the second round
after beating Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets. She then lost to World No. 6
Petra Kvitova in the second round. She produced a bagel in every of her matches
except her match against Kvitova, showing her ability to beat lower-ranked players.
She disappointingly lost in the qualifying rounds of Rome where she could have
improved her ranking if she had qualified for the main draw. Vesnina then
reached the quarterfinals of Strasbourg, losing to lucky loser Virginie
Razzano. At the French Open, Vesnina would reach the second round but lose to
eventual quarterfinalist Shelby Rogers in straight sets.
Vesnina
had an awesome grass court season, first starting off with a quarterfinals
appearance in Eastbourne. She defeated home favourite Heather Watson in the
first round, and once again defeated World No. 8 Belinda Bencic in 2 tiebreak
sets. She then powered pass qualifier Madison Brengle to reach her first
quarterfinal at a grass court tournament since 2013.
At Wimbledon, Vesnina
powered through the draw to reach the fourth round, the furthest she has
progressed in a Grand Slam since the 2013 Australian Open. There, she faced
doubles partner Ekaterina Makarova, and prevailed in a thriller that ended 9-7
in the final set to reach her first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal. She
outclassed bride-to-be Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets to create yet
another milestone as it would be her first ever Grand Slam semifinal. However,
it was a debut appearance to forget as she was dominated by Serena Williams in
just 48 minutes, which is the quickest Wimbledon semifinal in history. This
performance allowed her to rise 26 spots in the rankings, to her highest
ranking since 2013.
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| Vesnina at Wimbledon. Photo by Reuters. |
Her season
has been dull since then, losing in the first round in Montreal to eventual
finalist Madison Keys and reaching the quarterfinals in New Haven after
defeating 2 lucky losers in Camila Giorgi and Anett Kontaveit but fell to Elina
Svitolina. Nevertheless, she was still able to rise to a career-high ranking of
20. Vesnina then lost to a very solid and consistent Carla Suarez Navarro in
the third round of the US Open.
Her Asian
swing was very disappointing as she failed to win a single match after she lost
to doubles partner Ekaterina Makarova in Beijing and Shelby Rogers in Tianjin. Playing
in her home country, Vesnina once again suffered an opening round defeat to
Julia Goerges. Nevertheless, her strong showing at other tournaments allowed
her to qualify for the WTA Elite Trophy.
At the WTA Elite Trophy, she failed
to qualify for the semifinals after she lost to Elina Svitolina in her opening
match, but ended her career-best season on a high note by beating Kiki Bertens
in a dead rubber but of high quality. This win also allowed her to have a new
career-high ranking of 16.
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| Vesnina at the WTA Elite Trophy held in Zhuhai. Photo by Getty Images |
Doubles
Other than
singles, Vesnina also achieved numerous success in doubles. Vesnina paired up
with Kasatkina in the early 2016, and achieved some success after they beat the
No.1 pairing of Hingis and Mirza in Doha.
After she and Makarova reunited, they
reached the final in Madrid in just their 1st tournament back
together, only to lose against Hingis and Mirza, their nemesis. They won the
title in Montreal, and they achieved great success in the Rio Olympics, winning
the gold medal and becoming the 1st Russian pair to win a doubles
gold medal.
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| Makarova and Vesnina with their Gold Medal in Rio. Photo by Reuters |
Their amazing run continued when they reached the semifinals of the
US Open but they lost to the resurgent pair of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie
Safarova. They ended the season on a high note, winning their 1st
ever WTA Finals title despite being handed a very tough draw. They beat Czech
Republic’s No.1 pair Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, their nemesis
Hingis/Mirza, and another of their nemesis in Mattek-Sands/Safarova.
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| Makarova and Vesnina with their trophy at the WTA Finals in Singapore. Photo by Getty Images |
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Year-End
Ranking in 2015: 115
Year-End Ranking in 2016: 16
Year-End Ranking in 2016: 16
Finals
Reached: 1 (Charleston)
Titles Won: 0
Titles Won: 0
Prize
Money in 2015: $831,767 (Singles + Doubles)
Prize Money in 2016: $2,179,415 (Singles + Doubles)
Prize Money in 2016: $2,179,415 (Singles + Doubles)