Youth triumphs over experience: Zvonareva's dream run ends with defeat to 20-year-old Petra Marcinko

This week, former World No. 2 Vera Zvonareva had a dream return to the courts after a year and a half since her last appearance. Her remarkable campaign to the tournament final ended with a defeat to the young Croatian, Petra Marcinko, 6-3, 6-3.

After receiving a wildcard from the W100 Dubai organizers, the Russian player—who now represents North Macedonia—had an incredible run to the final but ultimately fell to the 20-year-old Croatian star, who will also break into the Top 100 for the first time in her career.

Zvonareva, 41, continues to stretch her successful career. She reached World No. 2 in 2010 and was runner-up at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the WTA Finals. She won a total of 12 WTA-level titles, the most relevant being Indian Wells in 2009, defeating Ana Ivanovic in the final.

This week, she showed that experience is invaluable, and what seemed like it would be an anecdotal appearance turned into an epic campaign to the final. Along the way, her early rounds were straightforward, straight-set victories against World No. 238 Tara Wurth and No. 508 Tereza Martincova.

Things became complicated starting in the quarterfinals, where after almost three hours, she managed to defeat World No. 455 Sofya Lansere. The semifinals saw a special duel against 16-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic (No. 342), where after more than three hours, Zvonareva ultimately prevailed 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4 against the 2024 US Open junior champion.

After an arduous week, Zvonareva faced World No. 103 Petra Marcinko in what would be her most complicated challenge of the week—at least according to the rankings. The 41-year-old player managed to keep pace during the first minutes of the match, but once Marcinko secured the first break (at 4-2), she took complete control of the match.

The Croatian maintained the advantage for much of the match. She achieved five breaks, compared to only two for Zvonareva. After one hour and 18 minutes, Marcinko secured the victory 6-3, 6-3 and claimed her 5th Challenger title of the season and third in the W100 category. The 20-year-old Croatian—2022 Australian Open junior champion and former junior World No. 1—guaranteed her entry into the Top 100 for the first time in her career, and will close the year as World No. 82.

On the other hand, Zvonareva—who had no ranking at the start of the tournament—will be positioned as World No. 654. The 2-time Grand Slam runner-up resides precisely in the city of Dubai, where she works giving tennis lessons to children. It remains to be seen if this was only a week of competition, or if she intends to return to the courts to play more tournaments during 2026.

Zvonareva was also in the doubles draw this week alongside Rada Zolotareva, but they also fell in the final—which was played immediately after the singles final. Mananchaya Sawagkaew and Xinyu Gao took the title, leaving Zvonareva empty-handed after a notable week returning to professional tennis.