Russian Tennis Ace to Return at Australian Open

© RIA Novosti . Alexei Filippov / Go to the mediabankVera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva - Sputnik International
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Russian tennis ace Vera Zvonareva will return to the sport at the 2014 Australian Open after 18 months out with a shoulder injury.

MOSCOW, December 11 (R-Sport) – Russian tennis ace Vera Zvonareva will return to the sport at the 2014 Australian Open after 18 months out with a shoulder injury, the competition’s website said Wednesday.

Zvonareva hasn’t played a match since her third-round exit from the London Olympics last summer, when she took only one game against the eventual champion, America’s Serena Williams.

“The women’s draw has been bolstered by the return of Vera Zvonareva,” the Grand Slam's website said.

The layoff has seen Zvonareva drop out of the Women's Tennis Association rankings after starting 2012 as the world No. 7, but she will be able to enter tournaments when the new season starts next month by using a protected ranking available to top players to miss more than six months through injury.

Zvonareva, 29, has 12 singles titles to her name and final appearances at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2010.

The only absentee from the world’s top 100 women is Russia’s world No. 19, Maria Kirilenko, who will miss the tournament due to an ankle injury, the website said.

Russia’s top female player, Maria Sharapova, the world No. 4, will make her competitive return to tennis following a shoulder injury in December’s season-opening Brisbane International, the tournament's organizers said last month.

The Russian star hasn’t played since her shock Wimbledon second-round exit to then-world No. 131 Michelle Larcher de Britoin in June.

 

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