Ekaterina Makarova
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Ekaterina Valeryevna Makarova (; ; born 7 June 1988) is a Russian former professional
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles, and world No. 8 in singles. She is a four-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2013 French Open, 2014 US Open and 2017 Wimbledon Championships in women's doubles, all alongside compatriot
Elena Vesnina Elena Sergeyevna Vesnina (born 1 August 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player who was List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. Vesnina is a four-time Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam champion, h ...
, as well as the 2012 US Open in mixed doubles with
Bruno Soares Bruno Fraga Soares (; born 27 February 1982) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player who specialised in doubles. A doubles specialist, Soares won six Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles, the 2016 Australian Open – Men's d ...
. Makarova and Vesnina also finished runners-up at the
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and
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Australian Opens, 2015 Wimbledon Championships and 2016 French Open. She and
Jaroslav Levinský Jaroslav Levinský (born 11 February 1981) is a former Czech professional doubles tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between ...
reached the mixed doubles final at the 2010 Australian Open. In singles, Makarova achieved her best Grand Slam results at the 2014 US Open and
2015 Australian Open The 2015 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park from 19 January to 1 February 2015. It was the 103rd edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. Stan Wawrinka was the de ...
, where she reached the semifinals. She became world No. 1 in doubles on 11 June 2018, and won 15 titles on the
WTA Tour The WTA Tour (also known as the Hologic WTA Tour for sponsorship reasons) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women and organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125 series, and third-tier is the ITF Wome ...
, including the 2016 WTA Finals and seven at Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 level. Makarova and Vesnina also won Olympic gold in
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 on 6 April 2015, and won three WTA titles, most notably at the 2010 Eastbourne International. Makarova was also part of the Russian team which won the 2008 Fed Cup.


Early life

Ekaterina Valeryevna Makarova was born to Valery and Olga in Moscow, Soviet Union. Her father is a banker and her mother a housewife. At age five or six she was sent by her parents to the Luzhniki per the recommendation of friends.


Career


2003–2005

In her first professional tournament in Elektrostal as a wildcard, she reached the quarterfinals losing to Olga Savchuk. At her last tournament of 2003 in Zhukovsky, Russia, she lost in the first round. She then played in Cairo, Egypt, reaching the second round as a qualifier. At
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, Turkey, she won her career first title over Kateryna Avdiyenko. Appearing at Felixstowe, Great Britain, she lost in the first round. At Târgu Mureş, Romania, Makarova claimed her second $10k title without dropping a set, defeating
Simona Matei Simona-Iulia Matei (born 7 July 1985) is a former professional Romanian tennis player. On 2 October 2006, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 145 and her best WTA doubles ranking of 246. In her career, she won nine singles ...
in the finals. In Moscow as a wildcard in the qualifier, she earned her first top 100 victory over Tatiana Perebiynis and Marta Domachowska, but lost to compatriot
Anna Chakvetadze Anna Djambuliovna Chakvetadze ( ; born 5 March 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. In her career, Chakvetadze won eight WTA Tour singles titles. She reached her highest singles ranking of world No. 5 in September 2007, after r ...
. At Redbridge, Makarova lost to Baltacha in the semifinals. In the next tournament at St. Petersburg, she again reached semifinals, in which she lost to compatriot Ekaterina Bychkova. Bychkova beat her in the semifinal at the tournament in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France. In the second round of qualifying for the US Open she lost to Indian Shikha Uberoi. In her next tournaments, she was often reaching first rounds or losing in qualifying.


2006–2007

Her first tournament in 2006 was at Ortesei, in which as a qualifier she lost to Eva Birnerová in the first round. At Torrent, Spain, she reached the final, eventually losing to Romina Oprandi. At an ITF event in Moscow, she reached the final defeating Vesna Manasieva in the quarterfinals and Anna Lapushchenkova in the semifinals, before falling to Evgeniya Rodina. Makarova began 2007 season losing to Olga Blahotová, at Tampa, Florida. In Moscow, she won the title with victories over Evgenia Grenbenyuk, and Evgeniya Rodina in the final. Makarova entered the qualifying draw for the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
defeating Erika Takao but was defeated again by Raluca Olaru. Then, in Zagreb, she reached the semifinals, before losing to Kyra Nagy. Makarova then lost in qualifying for the
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...
to Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová after defeating Lilia Osterloh. Makarova qualified for her first Grand Slam main draw at the US Open; in the main draw she defeated Julia Schruff and Ai Sugiyama, but lost to reigning world No. 1 and eventual champion,
Justine Henin Justine Henin (; born 1 June 1982) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 117 weeks, i ...
in straight sets. In her last tournament of the year in Minsk, she reached the second round, losing to Ekaterina Dzehalevich.


2008

Makarova began the year by losing in the qualifying round of the
Sydney International The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
. She earned her first win over a top 20 at the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, where she overcame No. 19 Ágnes Szávay. 14th seed
Nadia Petrova Nadezhda Viktorovna "Nadia" Petrova ( ; born 8 June 1982) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A former top-five player in both singles and doubles, she reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 in the world in both disciplines (doing s ...
hindered her way to the fourth round. In the opening season Makarova had a number of second round achievements, such as at the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. Makarova suffered consecutive first round losses at
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 * W ...
, the Slovenia Open, Nordic Light Open and Cincinnati Open. At the US Open she earned her first top-10 win over world No. 9, Anna Chakvetadze, until falling to
Li Na Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. She was WTA rankings, ranked world No. 2 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association. Li won nine WTA Tour-level singles titles, including two Grand Slam (t ...
.


2009

Makarova started the 2009 season at
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
where she lost in the first round to third seed and eventual champion, Elena Dementieva. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, she was defeated in the second round by third seed, compatriot, and eventual finalist
Dinara Safina Dinara Mubinovna Safina (, ; ; born April 27, 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 26 weeks, and world No. 8 in doubles. Safina ...
. At the Open GdF Suez, Makarova lost in the first round to
Daniela Hantuchová Daniela Hantuchová (; born 23 April 1983) is a Slovak tennis commentator and retired player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first WTA Tour title at the Indian Wells Open, defeating Martin ...
. In
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
, she was defeated in the first round by Sania Mirza. At the Indian Wells Open, she lost in the second round to 19th seed Anna Chakvetadze. Competing at the Miami Open, she reached the fourth round where she was defeated by Li Na. Seeded sixth at the Morocco Open, Makarova reached her first WTA Tour singles final; she lost in a one-sided match to top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues. In doubles, she and
Alisa Kleybanova Alisa Mikhailovna Kleybanova (, born 15 July 1989) is a Russian former tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 20, achieved in February 2011. In her career, she won two singles titles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour. ...
made it to the final where they were defeated by
Sorana Cîrstea Sorana Mihaela Cîrstea (; born 7 April 1990) is a Romanian professional tennis player. In singles, she achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 on 12 August 2013. In doubles, her career-best ranking is No. 35, which she reached on 9 March ...
and
Maria Kirilenko Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko ( rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Кириле́нко, p=mɐˈrʲijə kʲɪrʲɪˈlʲenkə, a=Ru-Maria_Kirilenko.ogg; born 25 January 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A junior Grand Slam champio ...
. Seeded sixth at the Estoril Open, she made her second singles final where she lost to
Yanina Wickmayer Yanina Wickmayer (born 20 October 1989) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She reached the semifinals at the 2009 US Open – Women's singles, 2009 US Open, and a career-high WTA ranking of No. 12, on 19 April 2010. In doubles, she achieve ...
. At the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, she was defeated in the first round by 18th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues. Seeded sixth in
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, Makarova lost in the first round to
Stefanie Vögele Stefanie Vögele (born 10 March 1990) is a Swiss professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 42 on 11 November 2013. Her highest WTA rankings, WTA ranking in doubles is 100, which she reached on 5 January ...
. Getting past qualifying at the Aegon International, she reached the quarterfinals where she was defeated by sixth seed and eventual champion, Caroline Wozniacki. At
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 * W ...
, she lost in round two to
Carla Suárez Navarro Carla Suárez Navarro (; born 3 September 1988) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A former top 10 singles player, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6 on 29 February 2016, and a best WTA doubles ranking of 11, o ...
. Seeded sixth in
Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
, Makarova was defeated in the second round by
Olga Govortsova Olga Alekseyevna Govortsova ( (Volha Alyakseyeuna Havartsova); ; born 23 August 1988) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. On 23 June 2008, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 35. On 29 August 2011, she peaked at No. 2 ...
. Starting her US Open Series at the LA Women's Championships, Makarova lost in the second round to 17th seed
Sabine Lisicki Sabine Katharina Lisicki (; born 22 September 1989) is a German inactive professional tennis player. Lisicki turned professional in 2006, and her breakthrough came in 2009 when she reached the quarterfinals of the 2009 Wimbledon Championships ...
. In
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, she fell in the first round to qualifier Olga Govortsova. At the Rogers Cup, she was defeated in round one by Virginie Razzano. Playing at the Connecticut Open, she lost in the first round to compatriot
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia Sergeyevna "Nastia" Pavlyuchenkova (; born 3 July 1991) is a Russian professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 11 on 8 November 2021. Pavlyuchenkova has won twelve singles titles ...
. At the US Open, she was defeated in her opener by
Gisela Dulko Gisela Dulko (; born 30 January 1985) is an Argentine former tennis player. Although she enjoyed modest success in singles, reaching a career-high ranking of world No. 26 and winning four WTA Tour, WTA titles, her speciality was doubles, where s ...
. At the Korea Open, Makarova lost in the first round to eighth seed Sybille Bammer. In
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, she was defeated in round one by 11th seed
Agnieszka Radwańska Agnieszka Roma Radwańska (; born 6 March 1989) is a Polish former professional tennis player and current coach. She was ranked world No. 2 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), in July 2012. Radwańska won 20 WTA Tour sing ...
. At the China Open, she made it to the second round where she lost to second seed
Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...
. In doubles, she and Alla Kudryavtseva reached the final where they were defeated by
Hsieh Su-wei Hsieh Su-wei (; ; born 4 January 1986) is a Taiwanese professional tennis player. A former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in Doubles tennis, doubles with nine Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles, she is rega ...
/
Peng Shuai Peng Shuai (; ; born 8 January 1986) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. In February 2014, she was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 doubles player by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA ...
. Her final tournament of the season was at home in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
where she suffered another first-round loss from
Lucie Šafářová Lucie Šafářová (; born 4 February 1987) is a Czech professional tennis player who was ranked List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles, and No. 5 in singles. She is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles ...
.


2010: WTA Tour title

Makarova started season at the
Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...
where she lost in the first round to Alicia Molik. In
Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...
, she was defeated in the first round by qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva without winning a single game. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, she lost in the second round to
Sara Errani Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. Errani is one of only seven women who have completed a career Grand Slam (tennis)#Golden Slam, Golden Slam in doubles. She is an Olympic Games gold medalist, a former ...
. At the
Eastbourne International The Eastbourne Open (also known as Eastbourne International, formerly Rothesay) is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as ...
, qualifier Makarova made it to the final without dropping a set. She triumphed over
Victoria Azarenka Victoria Fiodaraŭna Azarenka (born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), having held the position for a total of 51 weeks ...
in the final to earn her first WTA Tour title. Makarova defeated five top-20 players in the tournament, emerging victorious over No. 11
Flavia Pennetta Flavia Pennetta (; born 25 February 1982) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She became Italy's first top-ten female singles player on 17 August 2009 and the first Italian to be ranked List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis pla ...
, No. 13 Nadia Petrova, No. 20
Svetlana Kuznetsova Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova (born 27 June 1985) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as high as world No. 2 in singles and world No. 3 in doubles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Kuznetsova won 18 singl ...
, No. 7
Samantha Stosur Samantha Jane Stosur (born 30 March 1984) is an Australian former professional tennis player. She is a former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and ...
, and No. 15 Victoria Azarenka. Makarova then made it to the second round at
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 * W ...
, but was beaten by second seed
Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American inactive tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA for 11 wee ...
. In the US Open, she was defeated by
Ana Ivanovic Ana Schweinsteiger (name at birth, née Ivanovic; born 6 November 1987) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tenn ...
in the first round.


2011

Makarova caused an upset in the first round of the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
when she defeated 19th seed Ana Ivanovic. It took three sets and 2 hours and 47 minutes. She then went on to defeat qualifier Lesia Tsurenko, and caused another upset by beating 13th seed Nadia Petrova. Makarova's career-best run at a Grand Slam tournament was ended in the fourth round by third seed and champion Kim Clijsters. At the Italian Open, Makarova upset defending champion María José Martínez Sánchez in the first round, but lost to eventual champion
Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (, ; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 21 weeks. Sharapova won 36 WTA Tour-level sin ...
. Makarova would reach the fourth round of the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, before losing to fourth seed Victoria Azarenka. She lost her openers at
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 * W ...
and the US Open to Christina McHale and Maria Kirilenko, respectively.


2012: Breakthrough

Makarova started at the
Sydney International The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
where she qualified, faced Li Na in the first round and lost. Then at the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
in the second round, she defeated 25th seed
Kaia Kanepi Kaia Kanepi (; born 10 June 1985) is an Estonian inactive professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 15 on 20 August 2012 and has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour. Described as a 'resident Grand Slam up ...
. In the third round, she defeated seventh seed
Vera Zvonareva Vera Igorevna Zvonareva ( rus, Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, p=ˈvʲerə ˈiɡərʲɪvnə zvənɐˈrʲɵvə, a=Vera zvonareva.ogg; born 7 September 1984) is a Russian former professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ran ...
. In the round of 16, she defeated 13-time Grand Slam champion
Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...
to advance to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career. There she faced fourth seed and former champion Maria Sharapova and was defeated by the eventual finalist. Makarova lost in the second round at Indian Wells to
Caroline Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is an inactive Danish professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, hold ...
after defeating American Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the opening round. She did well at
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by reaching the fourth round where she lost to Sharapova again. Makarova defeated 16th seed Maria Kirilenko at the Madrid Open in the second round, before losing to
Lucie Hradecká Lucie Hradecká (; born 21 May 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. A three-time Grand Slam doubles champion and 26-time WTA Tour doubles titlist, she reached her career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in October 2012. She w ...
in the third. At
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, she defeated Francesca Schiavone before losing to Venus Williams in the second round. At the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, she lost her first match against
Sloane Stephens Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She has achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Stephens has won eight WTA Tour-level singles titles, including the 2 ...
. The following week, she reached the semifinals of the Birmingham Classic, losing to Melanie Oudin. She reached the quarterfinals at
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...
but lost to
Angelique Kerber Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 34 wee ...
. At
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 * W ...
, she defeated Alberta Brianti in the first round, before she was beaten again by Kerber. Makarova reached the third round at the Cincinnati Open recording victories over Nadia Petrova and
Anna Tatishvili Anna Tatishvili ( ka, ანა ტატიშვილი, tr, ; born February 3, 1990) is a Georgian-American former professional tennis player. In her career, Tatishvili won one doubles title on the WTA Tour, 2014 at the Linz Open, partneri ...
, before losing to Samantha Stosur. At the US Open, Makarova lost to Serena Williams in the third round. She partnered with Brazilian
Bruno Soares Bruno Fraga Soares (; born 27 February 1982) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player who specialised in doubles. A doubles specialist, Soares won six Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles, the 2016 Australian Open – Men's d ...
to win the mixed-doubles competition, defeating Květa Peschke and
Marcin Matkowski Marcin Matkowski (; born 15 January 1981) is a Polish former professional tennis player whose speciality is in doubles. He played college tennis at UCLA, where Jean-Julien Rojer Jean-Julien Rojer ( "John Julian" , ; born 25 August 1981) is a ...
in three sets in the final. It was her first Grand Slam title of any kind. After that, she reached the semifinals at
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where she lost to eventual champion Caroline Wozniacki. At the China Open, Makarova defeated Kirilenko again in the first round but lost to
Polona Hercog Polona Hercog (, born 20 January 1991) is a Slovenian professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings are 35 in singles and 56 in doubles. She has won five titles on the WTA Tour, three in singles and two in doubles. Hercog also has had ...
next. In the doubles event, she teamed up with
Elena Vesnina Elena Sergeyevna Vesnina (born 1 August 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player who was List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. Vesnina is a four-time Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam champion, h ...
and won defeating
Nuria Llagostera Vives Nuria Llagostera Vives (; born 16 May 1980) is a Spanish former tennis player. In June 2005, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 35. In November 2009, she peaked at No. 5 in the WTA doubles rankings. Professional career Llagoster ...
and Sania Mirza in the final. She lost to
Dominika Cibulková Dominika Cibulková (; born 6 May 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player (after Serena Williams in 2001 WTA Tour Championships, 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004 WTA Tour ...
in the first round at the Kremlin Cup.


2013: Doubles success

At
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, she defeated Varvara Lepchenko in the first round before succumbing to Dominika Cibulková. She reached her second consecutive quarterfinal at the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, recording victories over
Marion Bartoli Marion Bartoli (; born 2 October 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. Bartoli won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, 2013 Wimbledon Championships singles title, after previously being runner-up in 2007 Wimbledo ...
and Angelique Kerber. She then lost to Maria Sharapova again. At
Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...
, Makarova retired against Petra Kvitová in the second round. Makarova lost her openers in Indian Wells and
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
receiving first-round byes to
Garbiñe Muguruza Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (; born 8 October 1993) is a Venezuelan-born Spanish former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Asso ...
and Svetlana Kuznetsova, respectively. She partnered Elena Vesnina in the doubles event at Indian Wells and won, defeating Nadia Petrova and
Katarina Srebotnik Katarina Srebotnik (born 12 March 1981) is a Slovenian former professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 20, on 7 August 2006. On 4 July 2011, she became the No. 1 of the WTA doubles rankings, holding thi ...
in the final. She fell to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round at Porsche Tennis Grand Prix as well. At the Madrid Open, Makarova caused an upset in the second round when she defeated world No. 3, Victoria Azarenka (after winning only one game in the first set), ending the Belarusian's 18-match winning streak to start the season in the process. She had reached the quarterfinals after defeating Marion Bartoli but then lost to seventh seed Sara Errani, in straight sets. At the French Open, she lost her opening match to fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. She teamed up with Vesnina in doubles, winning the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
doubles title. Makarova lost her opener at
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
to Marina Erakovic, after having a first-round bye but reached the quarterfinals at
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...
where she lost to Wozniacki. At
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 * W ...
, Makarova reached the third round; she lost to Petra Kvitová in three sets. During the US Open Series, she reached semifinals at the Washington Open bot lost to eventual champion
Magdaléna Rybáriková Magdaléna Rybáriková (; born 4 October 1988) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. In her career, she won four singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour. Rybáriková reached the semifinals of the 2017 Wimbledon Champion ...
. She reached the second round at
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
and
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, losing to Roberta Vinci and Jelena Janković, respectively. The week before the US Open, she reached the quarterfinals at
New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...
, losing to eventual champion
Simona Halep Simona Halep (; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 64 w ...
. At the US Open, she defeated third seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the fourth round to reach her third career Grand Slam quarterfinal, and first at the US Open. She subsequently lost to fifth seed Li Na in three sets.


2014: Second career singles title and Grand Slam semifinal

Makarova began 2014 at the
Sydney International The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
, where she caused an upset by defeating fourth seed Jelena Janković in the first round. She lost to
Carla Suárez Navarro Carla Suárez Navarro (; born 3 September 1988) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A former top 10 singles player, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6 on 29 February 2016, and a best WTA doubles ranking of 11, o ...
in the next round. Then, she reached the fourth round of the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
for the third consecutive time but lost to eventual champion Li Na. In the doubles event, she and Elena Vesnina reached the final, where they lost to Errani and Vinci. Makarova won her second title at the Pattaya Open by defeating
Karolína Plíšková Karolína Plíšková (; born 21 March 1992) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), holding the position for a total of eight weeks, and has been ...
. In
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
, she beat
Alisa Kleybanova Alisa Mikhailovna Kleybanova (, born 15 July 1989) is a Russian former tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 20, achieved in February 2011. In her career, she won two singles titles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour. ...
in the opening round. She then lost to world No. 1, Serena Williams. She reached the third round at Indian Wells Open where she lost to Dominika Cibulková. In Miami, she defeated Sara Errani in the third round but lost to Angelique Kerber in three sets in the fourth. Makarova lost her openers at
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
and
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
to Suarez Navarro and Caroline Wozniacki, respectively. In
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, she defeated Roberta Vinci in the first round but lost to Errani in the following round. Makarova reached the third round at Roland Garros where she lost to
Sloane Stephens Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She has achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Stephens has won eight WTA Tour-level singles titles, including the 2 ...
. During the grass court swing, Makarova defeated Francesca Schiavone and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to book her place in the quarterfinals at the
Eastbourne International The Eastbourne Open (also known as Eastbourne International, formerly Rothesay) is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as ...
. She then lost to Angelique Kerber. Makarova's good form continued at
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 * W ...
, where she reached her fourth Grand Slam quarterfinal by defeating Agnieszka Radwańska in the fourth round. Then, she succumbed to Lucie Šafářová in straight sets. Makarova reached the semifinals in singles for the first time at a Premier 5 tournament, the Rogers Cup. On the way, she beat her doubles partner Vesnina in the second round and second seed Petra Kvitová. She was stopped by Agnieszka Radwańska in a close match, losing two tiebreaks. In doubles, she and Vesnina were beaten with difficulty in the quarterfinals by Hsieh and
Peng Peng may refer to: * Peng (surname) (彭), a Chinese name * Peng (state) (大彭), a state during the late Shang dynasty * Peng (mythology) (鵬), a legendary Chinese creature * ''Peng!'', 1992 album by Stereolab * ''PENG!'', a 2005 comic * P.Eng. ...
. Makarova reached her first Grand Slam singles semifinal at the US Open. Following a win over
Eugenie Bouchard Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard (; , ; born February 25, 1994) is a Canadian professional tennis and pickleball player. At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, 2014 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first Canadian-born player repr ...
in the fourth round, she defeated Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinal, but was defeated by top seed Serena Williams; this was the only match in the tournament in which she lost at least one set. However, she and Elena Vesnina won the doubles championship, marking her third Grand Slam doubles title. In the Asian season, Makarova reached the second and third rounds in
Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...
and
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, respectively. As a result, she obtained a new highest ranking of 13. Her successful season in doubles qualified her for the WTA Championships. She was also an alternate player in singles, but did not participate in the round-robin stages.


2015: Second major semifinal and top 10 debut in singles

In the Pacific season, Makarova first concentrated in singles. Her first appearance was at the
Sydney International The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
, where she lost in the second round. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, she reached a Grand Slam semifinal second times in a row, crushing the third-ranked Simona Halep in two sets in the quarterfinal. Her safe streak without a lost set was broken after facing her compatriot Maria Sharapova. In doubles, Makarova and Vesnina made it into the quarterfinals, where they played against future champions Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Šafářová, and lost in three sets. As a result of her singles success, Makarova reached a new career-high ranking of No. 9. Sixth-seeded Makarova reached the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championships, where she was defeated by Simona Halep. In doubles, she and Vesnina also reached the quarterfinals. The duo reached two finals in a row at the Indian Wells Open and the Miami Open, but always lost to Sania Mirza and
Martina Hingis Martina Hingis (, ; born 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 209 weeks ( fifth-most of all time) and as the world No. ...
. In singles, she repeated her last year's result in reaching the third and fourth rounds at these tournaments, respectively. At the 2015 French Open, Makarova matched her best result at the tournament when she reached the fourth round, as she did in
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
. With a chance to complete her set of having reached at least the quarterfinals at all four majors, she lost to former champion Ivanovic in three sets, and thus failed to reach her first French Open quarterfinal. Makarova and Vesnina became runners-up at
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 * W ...
, losing to Hingis and Mirza in three sets, after leading 5–3 in the last set. In singles, Makarova lost to
Magdaléna Rybáriková Magdaléna Rybáriková (; born 4 October 1988) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. In her career, she won four singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour. Rybáriková reached the semifinals of the 2017 Wimbledon Champion ...
in the second round.


2016: Olympic champion, WTA Finals doubles champion

In January, Makarova took a break in doubles and started the 2016 season in the Premier tournaments
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
and
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, reaching the second round and quarterfinals, respectively. In the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, she reached the fourth round and lost there to Johanna Konta. Makarova reached the quarterfinals in both singles and doubles at the Miami Open. In doubles, she paired with
Barbora Strýcová Barbora Strýcová (; born 28 March 1986), formerly known as Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, is a Czech former professional tennis player who was ranked List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. She won two Gra ...
. She reunited with Vesnina in doubles in
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, reaching the semifinals. In the next tournaments, the duo reached two finals in a row; in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
they lost to Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza, while at the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
they lost to Caroline Garcia and
Kristina Mladenovic Kristina "Kiki" Mladenovic (born 14 May 1993) is a French professional tennis player and a former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. Her best singles ranking is world No. 10. She is a nine-time Grand Slam ...
. At
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 * W ...
, the pair lost in the quarterfinals to the Williams sisters. Makarova also progressed in grass court in singles, winning six out of eight matches, only to lose against doubles partner Elena Vesnina in the fourth round. The duo finally won their first tournament title at the Rogers Cup and won the gold medal at the
Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...
for
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. Makarova made it to the third round of the Connecticut Open, but lost to Petra Kvitová in the third round. Ekaterina had the worst possible luck at the US Open by drawing the number-one-player in the world, Serena Williams in singles to whom she lost in straight sets. Makarova and Vesnina had a good showing in doubles. They made it to the semifinals, but lost to eventual champions, Mattek-Sands and Šafářová. Makarova defeated her doubles partner Vesnina in the first round of the China Open. However, she lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in the second round. In doubles, Makarova and Vesnina were stunned in the second round by Peng Shuai and Christina McHale. Her next tournament was the Kremlin Cup. In her home country, she beat qualifier Nicole Gibbs in the first round, but lost to fellow Russian
Daria Kasatkina Daria Sergeyevna Kasatkina (born 7 May 1997) is a Russian-born Australian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, achieved in October 2022. Kasatkina ha ...
in the second. As the top-seeded alongside Elena Vesnina, they were beaten in the first round by
Daria Gavrilova Daria Saville (née Gavrilova; born 5 March 1994) is a Russian-born Australian professional tennis player. She competed under her maiden name until her marriage to Luke Saville in 2021. On 28 August 2017, she reached her best singles rank ...
and the same woman she lost to in singles, Daria Kasatkina. Makarova and Vesnina qualified for their third joint WTA Finals, defeating Hlavacková/Hradecká, Hingis/Mirza, and Mattek-Sands/Šafářová en route to win their first WTA Finals title.


2017: Wimbledon doubles champion, third singles title

Makarova began her season at the
Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...
. She lost in the first round to Misaki Doi 6–7, 4–6. However, in doubles, she and Vesnina reached the final, losing the match to Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Sania Mirza in straight sets. In Melbourne, the Russians reached the quarterfinals. At St. Petersburg, she lost in the first round to doubles partner Vesnina. In
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
, she reached the third round before losing to
Lauren Davis Lauren Davis (born October 9, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. Known for her aggressive backhand, speed, and clay-court strength, she has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour and reached a career-high singles WTA rankings, ran ...
. The doubles team, however, won the trophy by defeating Hlaváčková/Peng in three sets. After reaching the semifinals of the Indian Wells Open, the duo had the chance to become the new number-one ranked doubles players if they had won the title, but they only reached the quarterfinals, suffering there an unpredictable loss to Gabriela Dabrowski and
Xu Yifan Xu Yifan (; ; born 8 August 1988), nicknamed Julie, is a Chinese professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 7 in doubles, on 13 January 2020. On 13 July 2015, she peaked at No. 148 in the s ...
, the eventual champions. Makarova faced top-ranked Kerber in the first round of the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, beating her in two sets; this was the first time in the French Open history and the first time in the Open Era tennis history since 2001 that a number-one ranked player failed to reach the second round. According to WTA Insider, Makarova after her win over Kerber was ranked fourth among active players by number of top-ten wins at Grand Slam tournaments, with 10. She and Vesnina won their third joint and individual Grand Slam doubles title in
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 * W ...
, crushing runners-up
Chan Hao-ching Chan Hao-ching (; ; born September 19, 1993), also known as Angel Chan, is a Taiwanese professional tennis player. She is primarily a doubles specialist, having won twenty-one WTA Tour, two WTA Challenger and six ITF titles in that discipline. ...
/
Monica Niculescu Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA as high as No. 28 in singles and No. 11 in doubles. She has won three singles and 10 dou ...
, 6–0, 6–0. This was the first " double bagel" in the women's doubles tournament final since 1953. The Russian went on winning the Washington Open in singles, beating players as Olympic champion Monica Puig and world No. 2, Simona Halep. In the finals, she prevailed over Julia Görges, winning her third WTA singles title. Makarova got into the third round of the Rogers Cup, defeating seventh-seeded Johanna Konta en-route but eventually losing to Lucie Šafářová. She again reached third round at the Cincinnati Open, crushing third-seeded Kerber en-route but losing to Sloane Stephens. Makarova thrice in a row defeated a top-10 in the second round of the US Open, fifth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, for the first time in her career after seven losses in a row against her.


2018: World No. 1 doubles player

Makarova started her 2018 season in January at the
Sydney International The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
. She upset third seed
Jeļena Ostapenko Jeļena "Aļona" Ostapenko (born 8 June 1997) is a Latvian professional tennis player. She has career-high rankings of world No. 5 in singles and No. 4 in doubles by the WTA. Ostapenko has won nine WTA Tour-level singles and eleven doubles tit ...
in the first round. She lost in the second round to Barbora Strýcová. Seeded 31st at the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, she was defeated in the first round by Irina-Camelia Begu. In doubles, she and Vesnina reached the final where they lost to
Tímea Babos Tímea Babos (; born 10 May 1993) is a Hungarian professional tennis player who is a former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. She has won three WTA Tour titles in singles and 27 in doubles. Babos is a f ...
/Kristina Mladenovic. After the Australian Open, Makarova competed at the St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy. She lost in the second round to
Kateřina Siniaková Kateřina Siniaková (; born 10 May 1996) is a Czech professional tennis player. She is the current List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. She also has a best singles WTA rankings, ranking of No. 27 by the W ...
. In
Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
, she was defeated in the second round by second seed and 2014 champion, Simona Halep. At the Dubai Championships, she lost in her second-round match to fifth seed Caroline Garcia. At the Indian Wells Open, she was defeated in the second round by tenth seed Angelique Kerber. In doubles, she and Vesnina made it to the final where they lost to Hsieh Su-Wei/Barbora Strýcová. Playing in
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, she was defeated in the second round by fifth seed Karolína Plíšková. Seeded fifth at the İstanbul Cup, Makarova lost in the first round to Aleksandra Krunić. At the Madrid Open, she was defeated in the first round by top seed and two-time defending champion, Simona Halep. However, in doubles, she and Vesnina won the title beating Tímea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic in the final. She lost in the second round of the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
to 26th seed Barbora Strýcová. Following the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, she and Vesnina became the new world No. 1, even though both did not get beyond the first round there (both played with other partners). In
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, Makarova was defeated in the first round by Alizé Cornet. At the
Eastbourne International The Eastbourne Open (also known as Eastbourne International, formerly Rothesay) is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as ...
, she lost in the first round to 2016 champion Dominika Cibulková. At
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 * W ...
, she stunned second seed Caroline Wozniacki in the second round but was defeated in the fourth round by
Camila Giorgi Camila Giorgi (; born 30 December 1991) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She had a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 26, which was achieved on 22 October 2018. Giorgi was known for her aggressive style of pla ...
. Seeded fourth and last year champion at Washington, Makarova lost in the first round to
Ana Bogdan Ana Bogdan (born 25 November 1992) is a Romanian professional tennis player. Having made her tour debut in 2009, she peaked at No. 39 in the WTA rankings in July 2023. Bogdan had a successful junior career, reaching world No. 2 on 5 January 20 ...
. In
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, she was defeated in the first round by Anett Kontaveit. In doubles, she and Latisha Chan reached the final where they lost to
Ashleigh Barty Ashleigh Jacinta Barty (born 24 April 1996) is an Australian former professional tennis player and cricketer. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Assoc ...
/Demi Schuurs. At the 2018 Western & Southern Open – Women's singles, Cincinnati Open, she made it to the third round where she was defeated by Lesia Tsurenko. In doubles, she and Lucie Hradecká won the title beating Elise Mertens/Demi Schuurs in the final. Competing in one more tournament before the final major of the year, she reached the quarterfinals at the 2018 Connecticut Open – Singles, Connecticut Open and lost to fifth seed Julia Görges. At the 2018 US Open – Women's singles, US Open, she was defeated in the third round by 19th seed Anastasija Sevastova. Playing in 2018 Wuhan Open – Singles, Wuhan, Makarova lost in the first round of qualifying to Lizette Cabrera. At the 2018 China Open – Women's singles, China Open, she was defeated in the first round by 14th seed and 2015 champion, Garbiñe Muguruza. She played her final tournament of the season at the 2018 Kremlin Cup – Women's singles, Kremlin Cup. She lost in the first round to qualifier and eventual finalist, Ons Jabeur. Makarova ended the year ranked 59 in singles and 6 in doubles.


2019

Makarova began her 2019 season at the 2019 Australian Open – Women's singles, Australian Open. She lost in the first round to Katie Boulter. This match was the first match decided by a 10-point final set tie-break at the Australian Open. At 2019 St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy – Singles, St. Petersburg, Makarova was defeated in the first round by Vera Zvonareva. In doubles, she and Margarita Gasparyan won the title beating Anna Kalinskaya/Viktória Kužmová in the final. In 2019 Dubai Tennis Championships – Women's singles, Dubai, she lost in the first round to Aliaksandra Sasnovich. In doubles, she and Lucie Hradecká reached the final where they were defeated by Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strýcová.


2020

On 28 January 2020, Makarova announced her retirement from professional tennis.


Playing style

Makarova was an all-court player who uses power and angles to set up passing shots. She was noted for her left-handed slice serve, often used to stretch opponents into uncomfortable positions. She attacked the return by shifting her wrist to disguise the direction of her forehand, or by hitting deep and aggressively with her backhand. She will usually seek to end the rally by maneuvering an opponent around the court and hitting a winner near the sidelines. Makarova hit powerfully on both wings, and is largely known for her aggressive groundstrokes. Journalists have noted her cross-court forehand, describing it as a powerful finishing shot. In an article from ''WTATennis.com'', her backhand was labeled "devastatingly good". Similarly, Richard Pagliaro of ''Tennis.com'' has noted her "bold" backhand as a primary strength. Being a left-handed player, she was particularly comfortable hitting backhands in the deuce court, with several of her winners coming from that side. During the 2014 Rogers Cup, Agnieszka Radwańska repeatedly targeted Makarova's forehand in the ad court, occasionally exposing it as a vulnerability. When returning first serves, Makarova often made a series of quick stomps in place before blocking the shot back across the net; she attacks second serves by moving inside the baseline and hitting the ball at an angle. As of August 2017, Makarova was one of just two left-handed players (the other being
Angelique Kerber Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 34 wee ...
) to have ever beaten Serena Williams in a Grand Slam match, doing so at the 2012 Australian Open.


Career statistics


Performance timelines

''Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.''


Singles


Doubles


Grand Slam tournament finals


Doubles: 7 (3 titles, 4 runner-ups)


Mixed doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)


WTA Tour Championships finals


Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)


Olympic finals


Doubles: 1 (gold medal)


Awards

;2005 * The Russian Cup (tennis), Russian Cup in the nomination Girls Under-18 Team of the Year ;2008 * The Russian Cup in the nomination Team of the Year ;2009 * The Russian Cup in the nomination Team of the Year ;2012 * The Russian Cup in the nomination Female Players of the Year ;2013 * The Russian Cup in the nomination Pair of the Year (with
Elena Vesnina Elena Sergeyevna Vesnina (born 1 August 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player who was List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. Vesnina is a four-time Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam champion, h ...
) * WTA Awards#Fan Favorite Doubles Team of the Year, WTA Fan Favorite Doubles Team of the Year ;2014 * The Russian Cup in the nomination Pair of the Year (with Elena Vesnina) ;2016 * The Russian Cup in the nomination Pair of the Year (with Elena Vesnina)


References


External links


Official website
(archived 26 October 2017) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Makarova, Ekaterina 1988 births Living people Tennis players from Moscow Russian female tennis players Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic tennis players for Russia US Open (tennis) champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles French Open champions Wimbledon champions Olympic medalists for Russia in tennis Olympic gold medalists for Russia Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Summer World University Games medalists in tennis FISU World University Games gold medalists for Russia Medalists at the 2009 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players 21st-century Russian sportswomen