Famous Russian Tennis Players

Sofia Kenin is an American tennis player who won her first Grand Slam title in 2020 when she defeated Garbiñe Muguruza in the Australian Open. By virtue of her Australian Open triumph, Sofia Kenin received the prestigious WTA Player of the Year award in the same year. She is renowned for her persistent determination and mental toughness.

Daniil Medvedev is a Russian tennis player who won his first Grand Slam title in 2021 when he defeated Djokovic in straight sets to win the US Open. Standing at 6 feet 6 inches tall, Medvedev became the tallest Grand Slam champion in the history of the Open Era. His height played a decisive role in his US Open victory.

Born to doctor parents in Moscow, Karen Khachanov developed an interest in tennis at the tender age of 3. After gaining attention with his Davis Cup debut in 2013, he earned his first Challenger title in Istanbul 2 years later. He has 4 ATP singles titles in his kitty.

Russian tennis star Svetlana Kuznetsova is known for her two Grand Slam wins in both the singles and the doubles categories. She created history by becoming the first Russian to earn a US Open title. She has a star cyclist mother, Galina Tsareva, and an Olympic medalist brother, Nikolay Kuznetsov.

Born in Moscow, Elena Rybakina initially played for Russia, but began representing Kazakhstan when she found herself at no. 175 in the global rankings. Now WTA no. 17, she is known for her powerful serve and her towering 6-foot frame. She also excelled in ice skating and gymnastics as a child.

Marat Safin is a Russian retired tennis player and former politician. Safin won two Grand Slam titles, namely Australian Open and US Open. He also helped Russia win the Davis Cup in 2002 and 2006. One of the most successful and celebrated tennis players from Russia, Safin was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2016.

Daria Kasatkina is a Russian professional tennis player who has won four WTA Tour titles in singles and one title in doubles. The daughter of athletes, she started playing tennis when she was six. She pursued the sport professionally and excelled, making her top-ten debut in the WTA rankings in the 2018 season. She is openly bisexual. 

The current no. 1 in Russia, tennis player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova soared to fame with her mixed doubles gold medal win at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. She also earned her first Grand Slam singles final spot at Roland-Garros the same year. A prodigy, she made her Grand Slam debut with Wimbledon at 15.

Introduced to tennis at the tender age of 6, Ekaterina Makarova later became world no. 1 in doubles and no. 8 in singles. The four-time Grand Slam winner has also earned a gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics with Elena Vesnina. She is known for her signature left-handed slice serve.

Daria Gavrilova is a Russian-born Australian tennis player. She represented Russia from 2009 to 2015 post which she began representing Australia. An accomplished junior player, Gavrilova won the gold medal at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. After turning professional, Gavrilova has achieved victories over former Grand Slam champions like Ana Ivanovic, Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitová, and Angelique Kerber.

Born into a well-known Russian tennis family, with a coach mother and a tennis-club director father, Dinara Safina was destined to take up the sport as a career option. She and her brother, former world no. 1 Marat Safin, made history by becoming the first brother-sister duo to top world tennis rankings.

Aslan Karatsev is a Russian professional tennis player who has achieved a career-high singles ranking by the ATP at world No.19. He won the silver medal with Elena Vesnina in mixed doubles at the 2020 Summer Olympics and his first ATP singles title at the 2021 Dubai Open, where he beat South African Lloyd Harris in the final. 

Four-time Grand Slam champion Elena Vesnina has also earned two Olympic medals, which were, unfortunately lost in a theft in 2021. She has consistently been one of the top-ranked doubles players and went back to the tennis court at age 34 after a hiatus following her pregnancy.

Vera Zvonareva is a Russian tennis player with 12 WTA Tour singles titles, including the 2009 Indian Wells Masters, to her name. She has also won five Grand Slam titles in doubles. She started playing tennis as a child and turned professional in 2000. She has degrees in physical education and international economic relations. She is married to Alexander Kucher. 

Julia Apostoli is a Soviet-born former professional tennis player. She has represented both the Soviet Union and Greece internationally. The daughter of football player Sergei Salnikov, she was introduced to sports as a child. She made her debut with the Soviet Union Fed Cup team in 1980.  She won a gold medal in women's doubles at the 1984 Friendship Games. 

Elena Dementieva is a Russian former tennis player who won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She has 16 WTA singles titles to her name and was also part of the Russian team that won the 2005 Fed Cup. She reached a career-high ranking of world No. 3 in April 2009. 

Alexander Zverev Sr. is a Russian former professional tennis player. He began his career in the late 1970s and won a bronze medal in the men's singles event at the 1983 Summer Universiade. He appeared in three Grand Slam tournaments and played mostly on the Challenger circuit. He is married to former professional tennis player Irina Zvereva. 

Andrey Rublev is a Russian professional tennis player who won the 2014 French Open singles title. The same year, he won a bronze medal in singles and a silver in doubles at the Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing. He reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 5 by the ATP in September 2021. He has been endorsed by many brands. 

Alexander Bublik is a Russian-born Kazakhstani tennis player. Renowned for his powerful serve and unpredictable trick shots, Bublik is the current Kazakhstani No. 1. In 2021, he reached the finals of the French Open men's doubles along with fellow Kazakhstani Andrey Golubev. He also represents Kazakhstan in Davis Cup.

Nikolay Davydenko is a Ukrainian-born Russian former professional tennis player. He reached the semi-finals in a Grand Slam tournament on four occasions and won the 2009 ATP World Tour Finals. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 3. He employed an offensive baseline game, using deep and penetrating groundstrokes while playing. He is married to Irina, a former model.  

Maria Kirilenko is a Russian former professional tennis player who won six WTA singles titles and 12 doubles titles. She was a semifinalist at the 2012 London Olympics, where she lost to Belarusian player Victoria Azarenka. She reached her career-high ranking of world No. 10 in June 2013. She is married to Alexei Stepanov and has two children. 

Anastasia Potapova is a Russian tennis player. She started playing as a child and is a former junior No. 1. She emerged as the 2016 Wimbledon Championships girls' singles champion after defeating Dayana Yastremska from Ukraine in the final. She made her debut in a Grand Slam tournament in 2017. She played in the 2021 Abu Dhabi Women's Tennis Open. 

Yevgeny Kafelnikov is a Russian former tennis player who won two Grand Slam singles titles and a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He was once ranked world No. 1 and has been inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He is also a professional golfer who won the Russian Amateur Open Championship of Golf in 2011. 

Anna Kalinskaya is a Russian professional tennis player who won the girls' doubles event at the 2016 Australian Open, partnering with Slovak tennis player Tereza Mihalíková. She has won seven singles and nine doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. She played her first Grand Slam event as a professional player at the Australian Open in 2017. 

Mikhail Youzhny is a Russian tennis coach and former player who was the Russian No. 1 and the top 10-ranked player in the world at the peak of his career which spanned 19 years. As a player, he had ten ATP tour-level titles under his belt. He also helped his national side win Davis Cup titles in 2002 and 2006.

Yaroslava Shvedova is a Kazakhstani former professional tennis player who has won one singles title and 13 doubles titles on the WTA Tour. She has also won four singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. She achieved a golden set at Wimbledon in her match against Sara Errani in 2012. She is the mother of twins. 

The daughter of a table tennis player father, Liudmila Samsonova began playing tennis at age 6 and grew up to represent not just her country, Russia, but also Italy, in professional tennis. A lifelong fan of Maria Sharapova, she specializes in the forehand shot and enjoys playing on hard court.

Mikhail Kukushkin is a Soviet-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player who previously played for Russia. He turned pro in 2006. He reached the fourth round of the 2012 Australian Open, becoming the first player with a Kazakh passport to do so. He reached the third round in the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. His career has been badly hampered due to injuries. 

Winner of one WTA singles title, three WTA 125K series titles and seven singles titles on the ITF Circuit, Ekaterina Alexandrova is a Russian tennis player, currently living in Prague.  Coached by her father, she first came to limelight in 2016 when she clinched her fifth ITF title and made her WTA Tour singles debut. She achieved her best singles ranking of No. 25 on 17 February 2020.  

Irina Zvereva is a former professional tennis player who competed in the doubles event at the 1990 Moscow Ladies Open. At one point in her career, she was ranked as high as No. 4 in her country. She participated in many events on the ITF Women's Circuit, reaching five singles finals. She is married to Alexander Mikhailovich Zverev. 

Veronika Kudermetova is a Russian professional tennis player who won her first WTA Tour singles title at the 2021 Charleston Open and reached a Grand Slam final at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships in women's doubles with Elena Vesnina. She is known for her powerful serve and highly aggressive playing style with an all-court game. She is married to Sergei Demekhine. 

Winner of two singles and four doubles titles on the WTA Tour, Russian tennis player Margarita Gasparyan began her professional career in 2010, quickly winning nine singles and eight doubles titles on ITF Circuit before shifting to WTA Tours. A regular on Grand Slam tournaments and Fed Cup, she reached her career-high rankings, both in doubles and singles, in 2016.

Former world no. 3, Nadia Petrova had first decided to play professionally at 14. A hip injury that she sustained in 2006 eventually slowed her career down. She has also spoken of how important her mother had been for her career and how her death caused her to quit her career.

Anastasia Gasanova is a Russian tennis player who made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Open. She defeated former world No. 1, Karolína Plíšková in the second round of that tournament. She reached her first quarterfinal of a WTA Tour event at the St.Petersburg Trophy the same year. She has been coached by Elena Bryukhovets. 

Born in Russia, Dmitry Tursunov began playing tennis at age 5 and moved to the US at 12 to train as a professional tennis player. Introduced to tennis by his father, a tennis coach, he later achieved a career-high singles ranking of 20. He has also coached renowned players such as Aryna Sabalenka.

Russian-born Australian tennis player Arina Rodionova learned to play tennis at the age of three under her father's guidance, eventually debuting as a professional in 2004 at an ITF event,. Partnering with her sister Anastasia Rodionova, she has often contested in double tournaments and reached the final at the Malaysian Open in 2010.

Retired tennis player Anna Chakvetadze, who was once world no. 5, has 8 WTA Tour singles titles in her kitty, including a Kremlin Cup. Now a Eurosport commentator, she quit her tennis career after being robbed and attacked by six invaders, an incident from which she never recovered.

Born in Moscow, Evgeny Donskoy was coached in tennis by former world no. 1 Russian tennis star Marat Safin. Known for his flat groundstrokes, he has scored a career-high global ranking of 65. Now a father, he recently spoke in an interview about how his family has been more important to him lately.

The winner of the 2015 Wimbledon girls’ singles title, Sofya Zhuk went on a temporary but indefinite break from tennis at the tender age of 20 after sustaining a severe back injury. The Russian tennis prodigy now lives in Miami and is also gearing up for a modeling career.

Born to an amateur tennis player in Russia, Anastasia Rodionova began playing tennis at age 7. While she initially represented her own country in professional tennis, she is currently no. 1 in doubles in Australia. Both she and her younger sister Arina have been consistently performing in the international circuit.

Russian tennis sensation Roman Safiullin stunned the world when he defeated three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray at the Rennes Open in 2021. The same year, he also made his Grand Slam debut with the Australian Open and also qualified for the French Open.

Kazakhstani tennis player Andrey Golubev initially played for his birth country, Russia. He and Alexander Bublik made headlines when they reached the men’s doubles of the French Open in 2021. With a highest ranking of 33 in doubles and 35 in doubles, he has proved himself to be a promising player.

Artem Sitak is a Russian-born New Zealand tennis player who won two gold medals at the World University Games as a junior player. After turning professional, Sitak has competed in major Grand Slam events, reaching the quarter-final of the Wimbledon in 2018 in the doubles event.

Dmitry Popko is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player who represents Kazakhstan at the prestigious Davis Cup. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of No. 162.

Galina Voskoboeva is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player who became the first female player to win a main-draw singles match at the Baku Cup, which was played on hard courts. Galina Voskoboeva has also competed at Grand Slam Singles and Doubles events, reaching the quarter-finals of the French and Australian Open on a couple of occasions.

Soviet and Russian tennis player Natalia Bykova, better known by her married name, Natalia Egorova, is known for her two doubles WTA titles. Before retiring from tennis in 2003, she had earned a ranking of 26 in the doubles category, whereas in singles, she managed a ranking of 76.