Vera Zvonareva has etched her name into the history books.
The former world number two, now 41, made her return to professional tennis last December following a break of over a year, marking the occasion with a victory at a W100 event in Dubai.
Since then, she has been involved in singles qualifying rounds on the WTA Tour and has also featured in doubles main draws.
This week saw her come through Qatar Open qualifiers with wins over Shuai Zhang and Magdalena Frech, earning herself a spot in the main draw.
And on Sunday, she broke new ground once again by seeing off Peyton Stearns in the first round of the Qatar Open.
Vera Zvonareva sets new milestone
Currently ranked 584 in the world, Zvonareva drew on her vast experience to come from behind and beat Stearns 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 in Doha.
The win also puts her alongside Serena and Venus Williams, who have also beaten Stearns during their returns to tennis.
According to OptaAce, Zvonareva becomes just the fourth player aged 40 or older to win a Tier I/WTA-1000 main draw match, joining Kimiko Date, Serena Williams and Venus Williams on that list.
This is Zvonareva’s first WTA Tour-level main draw win since October 2023, when she beat Arianne Hartono at the Nanchang/Jiangxi Open.
The Russian star will now face an opponent more than two decades younger than her in the next round of the Qatar Open.
Veteran takes on young star in Qatar Open second round
Zvonareva will face Victoria Mboko in the second round of the Qatar Open, after the Canadian teenager beat Marie Bouzkova on Sunday.
Mboko, just 19 years old, first came into the spotlight at the 2025 Canadian Open. She was unseeded and went on to beat four Grand Slam champions on her way to an unexpected title.
She has since added a second title in Hong Kong and made it to the fourth round of the Australian Open earlier this year.
The winner between Zvonareva and Mboko will move on to play either Mirra Andreeva, Sonay Kartal or Magda Linette in the third round.
If Zvonareva manages to get through a few more rounds, she could end up facing Elena Rybakina, who won the 2026 Australian Open just a few weeks ago.
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