rewrite this content and keep HTML tags
Playing her first tournament since April 2024, 41-year-old Vera Zvonareva made a remarkable return to the tour, showing she still has the power, drive, and motivation to add to her already outstanding career. The former world No. 2’s run at the W100 Dubai may not have ended with a title, but it was nothing short of impressive, as she finished runner-up in both singles and doubles.
After overcoming 16-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic in the semifinals, wildcard Zvonareva fell to fourth seed Petra Marcinko of Croatia in the final, 6–3 6–3. Remarkably, the 20-year-old champion was yet another opponent in Dubai who hadn’t even been born when Zvonareva began her professional career in 2000.
In the first set, Zvonareva fought back from a break down but lost her serve again in the eighth game, allowing Marcinko to serve out the opener in the next game. After dropping the first set, the 2010 Wimbledon and US Open finalist fell 0–2 behind early in the second. Although the veteran battled back to level at 2–2, she continued to struggle on her serve, and Marcinko secured two more breaks to seal the straight-sets victory.
Later, in the doubles final with Rada Zolotareva, Zvonareva fell to Gao Xinyu and Mananchaya Sawangkaew, 4–6 7–5 10–7.
