Former doubles World No.1 Elena Vesnina announces retirement from tennis

Former doubles World No.1 Elena Vesnina on Friday announced her retirement from the Hologic WTA Tour in a post on social media.

Previously a Top 15 player in singles, the 38-year-old Vesnina steps away as one of the most accomplished doubles players of recent times. She is a four-time Grand Slam doubles champion, having won three majors with Ekaterina Makarova (2013 Roland-Garros, 2014 US Open and 2017 Wimbledon) and the 2016 Australian Open mixed title with Bruno Soares. 

She and Makarova -- who were also the gold medalists at the Rio Olympics and champions at the WTA Finals Singapore in 2016 -- were jointly ranked No.1 in doubles four five weeks in the summer of 2018.

Vesnina made her professional debut on the ITF Circuit in Egypt in 2002, and her WTA main-draw debut as a qualifier at Quebec City in 2004.

She won her first WTA singles title at Hobart in 2013, and a second winner’s trophy on the lawns of Eastbourne the same year. In Grand Slam play, her best singles result was a run to the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2016.

Her greatest solo feat came in 2017, when she captured her third and final singles title, at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Along the way she defeated Angelique Kerber, Venus Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova -- and was duly rewarded with a career-high ranking of No.13.

After joining forces with Makarova to win the last of her 19 doubles titles at Madrid in 2018 (her eighth at the WTA 1000 level) -- Vesnina gave birth to her first daughter, Elizaveta, in November that year.

Returning from two seasons on maternity leave, she reached the title bout at Wimbledon in 2021 with Veronika Kudermetova, as well as mixed doubles finals at Roland Garros and the Tokyo Olympics paired with Aslan Karatsev. The Olympics proved to be the last singles tournament of Vesnina’s career ahead of another hiatus, during which she gave birth to a second daughter, Anna, in May 2023.

Earlier this year, Vesnina returned to competition in Madrid and played with various partners across the clay and grass seasons. Her final match came alongside Ekaterina Alexandrova at the Paris Olympics, their campaign ending in the first round at the hands of Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova.

“As a little girl, I could not have dreamed I would get to play tennis on the biggest stages and achieve such results,” Vesnina said. “It’s time to say goodbye, but I’m just very happy and thankful for all the memories and support I’ve enjoyed throughout my career -- from my fans, my WTA family, my doubles and mixed doubles partners and colleagues on the tour. Tennis has brought me friends for life.”

In all, Vesnina reached 10 singles finals and 45 women’s doubles finals, including 11 at the Slams, dating back to Roland-Garros in 2009. She reached five mixed doubles finals as well, for the one title.

She leaves the game with a doubles win-loss record of 437-235, including seven successive Top 10 season finishes and career prize money of $13,052,758.