Olga Morozova
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Olga Vasilyevna Morozova ( rus, link=no, Ольга Васильевна Морозова, , ˈolʲɡə mɐˈrozəvə, a=Ru-Olga_Morozova.ogg; born 22 February 1949) is a retired tennis player who competed for the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. She was the runner-up in singles at the
1974 French Open The 1974 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 3 June until 16 June. It was the 78th staging of the French Open, and the second Grand ...
and 1974 Wimbledon Championships. Due to her achievements as both player and coach, Morozova often is referred to as the Godmother of Russian tennis.


Career

Born in Moscow, Morozova started to play tennis aged 10. By 16, Morozova had improved so quickly that she was invited to represent the USSR at Wimbledon in the Girls Singles. Travelling internationally for the first time and playing on grass for the first time, Morozova won the 1965 Wimbledon junior's singles title. Morozova was the first Soviet tennis player, male or female, to reach the singles final of any major tournament when she was the runner-up at the 1972 Italian Open. However, the peak of Morozova's career came during the summer of 1974 when she was the women's singles runner-up at both
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
and the French Open, losing to
Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954), known as Chris Evert Lloyd from 1979 to 1987, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. Evert won 18 major singles titles, including a record seven French Open titles and a joint-record ...
on both occasions. At Wimbledon she shocked the defending champion
Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. King was a member of the victorious United States ...
in straight sets in the quarters, and then came back from a set down against
Virginia Wade Sarah Virginia Wade (born 10 July 1945) is a British former professional tennis player. She won three Major tennis singles championships and four major doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all f ...
to win the semi-final 6–4 in the third. She rose to No. 3 in the world going into the US Open that year — the highest ranking she achieved in her career. In terms of other achievements, Morozova became the first Soviet tennis player, male or female, to win a
Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...
title when she teamed with Evert to win the women's doubles championship at the French Open in 1974. She was the first Soviet player to lead her team to the Federation Cup semifinals in 1978 (and again in 1979). She and
Alex Metreveli Alexander Irakliyevich Metreveli ( ka, ალექსანდრე მეტრეველი, tr, ; russian: Александр Ираклиевич Метревели ; born 2 November 1944) is a retired Soviet tennis player of Georgian b ...
were the first USSR players to reach a Grand Slam final when they teamed at Wimbledon in 1968, losing to
Margaret Court Margaret Court (''née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian retired former world No. 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, her 24 maj ...
and
Ken Fletcher Kenneth Norman Fletcher (15 June 1940 – 11 February 2006) was an Australian tennis player who won numerous doubles and mixed doubles Grand Slam titles. Biography He was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia to parents Norm and Ethel Fletc ...
. As well as winning the French Open doubles in 1974, Morozova also was the runner-up at the 1975 Australian Open (teaming with Margaret Court), the 1975 French Open (teaming with Julie Anthony) and the 1976 US Open (teaming with Virginia Wade). Morozova's playing career was cut short in 1977 because of the USSR's policy against allowing their athletes to compete with South Africans. At this point, she retired early from the professional tour. Morozova then began a coaching career. She became head coach of the Soviet Union ladies squad through the 1980s leading the Soviets to their first appearance in a
Federation Cup Federation Cup or Fed Cup is the former name of the premier world team competition in women's tennis. Federation Cup may also refer to: * Capital Football Federation Cup, an Australian territory-based association football tournament *Federation Cup ...
Final (1988, losing to Czechoslovakia). Morozova also helped pioneer the creation of the
Kremlin Cup The Kremlin Cup (russian: Кубок Кремля) is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts, which was suspended in 2022. It was part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour and was a Premier Tournament on the WTA ...
. In 1990, the LTA hired Morozova as head of girls tennis, based at the national performance centre in Bisham Abbey, UK. Morozova became a fixture in UK tennis for much of the 1990s. In December 1996, in a Russian interview, she noted a key difference in approach towards sport between the two countries, England and Russia: "For them
he English He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
sport-wise participation is considered more important than winning. They fancy
Coubertin Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin (; born Pierre de Frédy; ...
a lot. For us, thnicRussians, it is still more important to win". In the 1990s, Morozova preferred to joke about the difference in tennis players' pay between the 1970s and 1990s: "I'm upset to the least because I wasn't paid at all." Her former compatriot and player, as a coach —
Larisa Savchenko Larisa Savchenko-Neiland ( uk, Лариса Савченко-Нейланд, lv, Larisa Savčenko-Neilande; née Savchenko; also Larisa Neiland; born 21 July 1966) is a retired tennis player who represented the Soviet Union, Ukraine and Latvia ...
— also had a similar perspective, stating in 2021 the following: "The daily subsistence was 'decent'. Back then, all the other SSRsports trolled us: 'Here we are, tennis! They have $25 a day, and we have only $5'." In 2003, she began working individually with notable players, including
Elena Dementieva Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. ...
,
Svetlana Kuznetsova Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova (born 27 June 1985) is a Russian inactive professional tennis player. She is a two-time major singles champion, winning the 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open, and finishing runner-up at two other majors. I ...
,
Sergiy Stakhovsky Sergiy Eduardovych Stakhovsky ( uk, Сергій Едуардович Стаховський, ; born January 6, 1986) is a Ukrainian former professional tennis player. Stakhovsky turned professional in 2003 and played mostly at the Challenger le ...
and
Laura Robson Laura Robson (born 21 January 1994) is a British former professional tennis player. She debuted on the ITF Junior Circuit in 2007, and a year later won the Junior Wimbledon championships at the age of 14. As a junior, she also twice reached th ...
. Morozova has been widely credited as one of the few successful female coaches to work at the very highest levels of the tour. In 1998, she was awarded the Sarah Palfrey Danzig Trophy for character, sportsmanship, manners, spirit of cooperation, and contribution to the growth of the game as well as the help she rendered to professional players and junior players. In 2000, the
Russian Tennis Federation Russian Tennis Federation (russian: link=no, Федерация тенниса России) is a national governing body of tennis in Russia, founded as the All-Russia Tennis Association in 1989 and reorganized under the current name in 2002. I ...
awarded Morozova the honour of Russian Tennis Player of the Twentieth Century.


Grand Slam finals


Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)


Doubles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)


Mixed doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)


WTA career finals


Singles: 16 (8 titles, 8 runner-ups)


Doubles: 27 (16 titles, 11 runner-ups)


ITF Circuit finals


Singles: 30 (25–5)


Doubles: 37 (27–10)


Junior Grand Slam finals


Girls' singles (1–0)


Grand Slam singles performance timeline


Bibliography


See also

* Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morozova, Olga 1949 births Living people Soviet female tennis players Tennis players from Moscow Russian tennis coaches Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' singles Universiade medalists in tennis Tennis commentators Universiade gold medalists for the Soviet Union Wimbledon junior champions French Open junior champions French Open champions Medalists at the 1973 Summer Universiade