Former top 15 singles star and doubles World No.1 Elena Vesnina announces retirement from tennis

Former doubles World No.1 and top 15 singles star, Elena Vesnina announced her retirement from the WTA Tour with a post on social media on Friday.

Vesnina steps away for the final time as one of the most decorated doubles players of recent years. She is a four-time Grand Slam doubles champion winning three majors with Ekaterina Makarova. She also won the 2016 Australian Open mixed title with Bruno Soares.

Makarova also joined her for the Rio Olympics where they won gold as well as the WTA Finals in Singapore both in 2016 where they also won the title. They were jointly ranked World No.1 in doubles for five weeks in the summer of 2018.

She won her first WTA title in Hobart in 2013 in singles and a second in Eastbourne in the same year. The same surface where she reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon back in 2016, her best Grand Slam run. But her best overall run came in 2017 where she won a third and final singles title at Indian Wells moving up to World No.13. But becoming a mother saw her career focus shift. She joined forces with Makarova to win the last of her 19 doubles titles before giving birth to her first daughter Elizaveta.

She returned from two seasons on maternity leave reaching the final of Wimbledon with Veronika Kudermetova as well as the mixed doubles at Roland Garros and the Olympics. She then gave birth to a second daughter Anna in May 2023.

She returned again this year playing with various partners with her last stand being the Olympic Games this summer where she lost with Ekaterina Alexandrova in doubles.

“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.”