“Natasha” Zvereva

Natalya “Natasha” Zvereva (born April 16, 1971) is a tennis player from Belarus. A Belarusian tennis star, she dominated doubles tennis tournaments in late 1980s and through 1990s. She was a girl’s US Open champion in 1987 beating Sandra Birch 6-0, 6-3 in the finals. After turning pro Zvereva won four WTA Tour single titles and 79 WTA Tour double titles. Eighteen of them are Grand Slam double titles.

In doubles Zvereva is a five times Wimbledon champion, four times US Open champion, five times French Open champion, and four times Australian Open champion.

She won those Grand Slam titles with four different partners (Gigi Fernandez, Martina Hingis, Pam Shriver and Larissa Neiland-Savchenko).

As for single’s best achievement, in 1988 Zvereva reached the final in French Open, where she was beaten (0-6,0-6) by Steffi Graf who was unbeatable that year, winning all four Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal.

In addition, Zvereva twice won mixed doubles titles in Australian Open. In 1992, she won a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in the doubles event (with Leila Meskhi, representing the CIS).

Facts

Height: 5 ft 8 in (1.74 m)
Weight: 138 lb (62 kg)
Plays: right
Birthplace: Minsk, Belarus
Resides: Newport Beach, Florida, USA
Turned pro: 1988