Yaroslava Shvedova

Following ankle surgery and childbirth, Shvedova began entering events again using a protected ranking in January 2020.

Seeded seventh at the Swedish Open, Shvedova retired during her first-round match against Mona Barthel due to a mid-back injury. Representing Kazakhstan at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Shvedova lost in the first round to Misaki Doi of Japan. In doubles, she and her compatriot, Galina Voskoboeva, faced Belgians Kirsten Flipkens/Yanina Wickmayer in the first round. Flipkens/Wickmayer won the first set 6–1. The match was not continued because Shvedova and Voskoboeva pulled out of the doubles event at the Olympics.

Shvedova began her 2015 year by playing qualifying at the Brisbane International. Shvedova qualified for the main draw defeating Paula Ormaechea, Paula Kania, and Maryna Zanevska. In the first round, she beat Sabine Lisicki. In the second round, she lost to top seed and eventual champion Maria Sharapova. At the Apia International Sydney, Shvedova was defeated in the first round of qualifying to Kateřina Siniaková. Ranked sixty-six at the Australian Open, Shvedova upset sixteenth seed Lucie Šafářová in a first-round thriller. She then beat Monica Puig in the second round. In the third round, Shvedova lost to twenty-first seed Peng Shuai.

Shvedova experienced a good run at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. She gained direct entry into the main draw and won a tight first-round match against wild card Ajla Tomljanović. She then defeated 23rd seed Sabine Lisicki in the second round after she retired whilst trailing 3–6, 1–0. In the third round, Shvedova advanced against unseeded Andrea Petkovic by winning another close match. She fell to sixth seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the fourth round in straight sets.

Shvedova started the grass-court season at the Aegon Classic. Seeded 11th, she lost in the second round to Marina Erakovic. At the Aegon International, Shvedova lost in the first round of qualifying to Mirjana Lučić-Baroni. Ranked world No. 123 at the Wimbledon Championships, she was defeated in the first round by qualifier Tamarine Tanasugarn 6–2, 6–3.

Seeded eighth for qualifying at the Korea Open, Shvedova qualified for the main draw beating wild card Choi Ji-hee, Han Sung-hee, and third seed Rika Fujiwara. In the first round, she upset Tamarine Tanasugarn. In the second round, Shvedova retired after losing the first set 6–7 to fourth seed Dominika Cibulková. She qualified for the HP Open defeating sixth seed Kristina Mladenovic, wildcard Risa Ozaki, and Hsieh Su-wei. Shvedova was defeated in the second round by seventh seed Chanelle Scheepers. In doubles, she and Vania King advanced to the final where they lost to Kimiko Date-Krumm/Zhang Shuai. Shvedova played her final tournament of the year at the OEC Taipei Ladies Open. She reached the quarterfinals where she lost to eighth seed Chang Kai-chen in straight sets.

Shvedova started her clay-court season by playing qualifying at the Family Circle Cup. Seeded 20th for qualifying, she qualified for the main draw defeating Jessica Pegula and 10th seed Andrea Hlaváčková. In the main draw, she reached the third round after defeating Alexandra Panova and 12th seed Yanina Wickmayer. In the third round, she lost to sixth seed Sabine Lisicki. Seeded seventh for qualifying at the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem, Shvedova lost in the second round of qualifying to Bianca Botto. At the Estoril Open, Shvedova was defeated in the first round of qualifying by Bianca Botto. Due to having a low ranking, Shvedova played qualifying at the French Open. She qualified into the main draw beating Ajla Tomljanović, CoCo Vandeweghe, and Elena Bogdan. In the main draw, she defeated Mandy Minella, Sofia Arvidsson, and Carla Suárez Navarro in the first three rounds. In the fourth round, she upset seventh seed and defending champion Li Na 3–6, 6–2, 6–0 to advance to her second French Open quarterfinal. This was Shvedova's biggest win of her career in singles. She lost to fourth seed and reigning Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová in the quarterfinals only in three sets. Due to making the quarterfinals at the French Open, Shvedova's ranking went from 142 to 62. In doubles, she and Vania King reached the quarterfinals where they lost to seventh seeds and eventual finalists Maria Kirilenko/Nadia Petrova.

As the top seed for qualifying at the Western & Southern Open, Shvedova qualified for the main draw beating wildcard Lauren Davis and 14th seed Anna Tatishvili. She beat 16th seed Lucie Šafářová in the first round. In the second round, Shvedova was up against qualifier Urszula Radwańska and won the first set 6–4; Urszula was leading 4–1 in the second set when Shvedova retired due to heat illness. At the Texas Tennis Open, Shvedova lost in the first round in a tough three set match to second seed and eventual finalist Jelena Janković. Ranked 45 at the US Open, Shvedova was defeated in the second round by 20th seed and eventual quarterfinalist Roberta Vinci.

Seeded second at the first edition of the Brasil Tennis Cup, Shvedova was defeated in the first round by Melinda Czink in three sets. However, in doubles, she and her partner Medina Garrigues won the title defeating Anne Keothavong/Valeria Savinykh in the final 6–0, 6–4. Seeded 31st at the BNP Paribas Open, Shvedova got a bye into the second round where she lost to qualifier Lesia Tsurenko. At the Sony Open Tennis, Shvedova lost in the first round to Zheng Jie.

Shvedova started her clay-court season at the Family Circle Cup. As the 14th seed, she lost in the first round to qualifier Vania King. At the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Shvedova reached the quarterfinals with wins over Roberta Vinci and Carla Suárez Navarro. In the quarterfinals, she lost to third seed Angelique Kerber. Shvedova stunned 10th seed and former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the first round at the Mutua Madrid Open 6–2, 6–4. In the second round, she beat Kirsten Flipkens. Shvedova withdrew from her third round match against wild card Anabel Medina Garrigues due to a right arm injury. Seeded 27th at the French Open, Shvedova had quarterfinalist points to defend from last year. In the first round, she defeated CoCo Vandeweghe. However, she was defeated in the second round by qualifier Paula Ormaechea. As a result of her second-round loss at the French Open, Shvedova failed to defend her quarterfinalist points from last year, and her ranking dropped from 31 to 52.

Seeded eighth at the Tashkent Open, Shvedova lost in the first round to Vesna Dolonc. In doubles, she and Tímea Babos won the title defeating Mandy Minella/Olga Govortsova in the final. At the Guangzhou International Women's Open, she lost to Zheng Jie in the first round. Seeded seventh at the Ningbo International Women's Tennis Open, Shvedova reached the quarterfinals defeating Tímea Babos and wild card Zheng Saisai. She then lost in the quarterfinals to fourth seed Yvonne Meusburger. Seeded 10th for qualifying at the China Open, Shvedova lost in the second round of qualifying to Sharon Fichman. At the Kremlin Cup, she was defeated in the first round by Elena Vesnina 6–1, 6–2. Competing at the first edition of the Nanjing Ladies Open, Shvedova lost in the first round to second seed Yanina Wickmayer. She played her final tournament of the year at the Taipei Ladies Open. In the first round, she upset fourth seed Ayumi Morita in the first round. However, in doubles, Shvedova and Caroline Garcia won the title defeating Anna-Lena Friedsam/Alison Van Uytvanck in the final.

Shvedova began her clay-court season at the Family Circle Cup. She defeated qualifier Zheng Saisai in the first round but lost in the second round to seventh seed Samantha Stosur. In doubles, she and Medina Garrigues won the title defeating Chan Hao-ching/Chan Yung-jan in the final. At the Portugal Open, Shvedova defeated Karin Knapp in the first round. She lost in the second round to second seed Eugenie Bouchard 6–4, 6–2. Seeded seventh for qualifying at the Mutua Madrid Open, she lost in the first round of qualifying to Mariana Duque Mariño. Shvedova reached the quarterfinals at the Nürnberger Versicherungscup defeating Patricia Mayr-Achleitner and sixth seed Kurumi Nara. She lost to second seed and eventual champion Eugenie Bouchard in the quarterfinals. Ranked world No. 69 at the French Open, Shvedova won her first-round match over Lauren Davis. In the second round, she lost to wild card Pauline Parmentier.

Shvedova played at the Topshelf Open, her only grass court tune up tournament before Wimbledon. She upset second seed Dominika Cibulková in the first round. In the second round, she defeated in a tight match wild card Michaëlla Krajicek. Shvedova lost in the quarterfinals to eighth seed Klára Koukalová 6–2, 6–4. At Wimbledon, Shvedova defeated wild card Kristýna Plíšková in a first round thriller. In the second round, she beat last year quarterfinalist Kaia Kanepi. In the third round, she faced Madison Keys. Shvedova won the first set 7–6; the second set was tied 6–6 when Keys retired due to a right thigh injury. In the fourth round, Shvedova lost to 19th seed and last year finalist Sabine Lisicki.

At the Korea Open, Shvedova faced Christina McHale in her first-round match. McHale won the first set 6–4; Shvedova led 2–1 in the second set when she abandoned the match. At the Tashkent Open, Shvedova beat eighth seed Andreea Mitu in the first round. In the second round, she lost to Evgeniya Rodina. At the China Open, Shvedova lost in the final round of qualifying to eighth seed Irina Falconi. After the China Open, Shvedova played for the 1st time at the Hong Kong Tennis Open. She beat Jarmila Gajdošová in the first round. In the second round, she was defeated by eighth seed and doubles partner Alizé Cornet. In doubles, Shvedova and Cornet won the title beating Lara Arruabarrena/Andreja Klepač. Seeded fourth at the first edition of the Hua Hin Championships, Shvedova reached the final defeating wild card Kamonwan Buayam, qualifier Liu Chang, Duan Yingying, and Wang Qiang. In the final, Shvedova beat Naomi Osaka for her first WTA 125K title. Shvedova played her final tournament of the year at the Taipei Challenger. Seeded second, she made it to the quarterfinals beating Marina Melnikova and Amandine Hesse. In the quarterfinals, Shvedova faced fifth seed Kirsten Flipkens. Shvedova won the first set 6–4; Flipkens was leading 2–1 in the second set when Shvedova pulled out of the tournament.

Shvedova began her grass-court season at the Ricoh Open. She was defeated in the first round by third seed and eventual finalist Kristina Mladenovic. However, in doubles, Shvedova and Oksana Kalashnikova won the title defeating Xenia Knoll/Aleksandra Krunić in the final. Playing at the first edition of the Mallorca Open, Shvedova lost in the first round to Daniela Hantuchová. At the Aegon International Eastbourne, Shvedova lost in the second round of qualifying to Alison Van Uytvanck. Ranked ninety-six at the Wimbledon Championships, Shvedova reached the quarterfinals in singles for the first time in her career defeating Julia Görges, seventeenth seed Elina Svitolina, 2013 Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki, and twenty-eighth seed Lucie Šafářová. In her quarterfinal match, she lost to eighth seed, five time Wimbledon Champion, and former world No. 1 Venus Williams. In doubles, Shvedova and Tímea Babos reached the final upsetting top seeds Hingis/Mirza en route to the final. In the final, Shvedova and Babos lost to the Williams sisters. Due to her quarterfinals result in singles at Wimbledon, Shvedova's ranking improved from 96 to 49.

Shvedova started her clay-court season at the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem. She lost in the second round to Tatjana Maria. At the Mutua Madrid Open, she was defeated in the first round by eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. In Rome at the Italian Open, she lost in the first round to ninth seed Venus Williams. Seeded seventh at the Nürnberger Versicherungscup, Shvedova reached the quarterfinals beating qualifier Anna Zaja and German wildcard Tatjana Maria. In the quarterfinals, Shvedova retired after losing the first set 4–6 to Misaki Doi due to an injury. At the French Open, Shvedova lost in the first round to fifth seed Elina Svitolina.

She won one singles title and 13 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, one singles and one doubles title on tournaments of the WTA 125K series, as well as four singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 29 October 2012, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 25. On 22 February 2016, she peaked at No. 3 in the doubles rankings.

On 15 June 2012, Shvedova and her partner, Sania Mirza, made a shock first-round exit from the Aegon Classic; they lost to Iveta Benešová/Alla Kudryavtseva in two sets. At the Wimbledon Championships, Shvedova received a wild card into the main draw. There, she defeated Chanelle Scheepers and Kiki Bertens to reach the third round where she faced 10th seed Sara Errani and won the fourth "Golden Set" in the history of tennis. She won all 24 points in the fifteen-minute-long first set, blasting 14 winners and making no unforced errors before losing the first point of the second set to break the sequence. She went on to win the match in straight sets 6–0, 6–4 reaching the second week of Wimbledon for the first time. In the fourth round, she was defeated by sixth seed and eventual champion Serena Williams.

Representing Kazakhstan at the 2012 London Olympics, she reached the second round of the women's singles where she lost to 15th seed Sabine Lisicki. In doubles, she reached the second round with partner Galina Voskoboeva.

Shvedova began the year at the Brisbane International. As the top seed for qualifying, she lost in the second round of qualifying to Anastasia Rodionova. Seeded 12th in qualifying at the Apia International Sydney, Shvedova was defeated in the final round of qualifying by fifth seed Christina McHale. At the Australian Open, she lost in the first round to 13th seed Sloane Stephens.

Shvedova began her season representing Kazakhstan at the 2011 Hopman Cup. She lost her first match to Ana Ivanovic in two sets. During her match against Ivanovic, Shvedova injured her right knee which caused her to pull out of the Hopman Cup. Shvedova also missed the Australian Open due to the same right knee injury.

Ranked 55 at the Wimbledon Championships, Shvedova beat Kiki Bertens. She then withdrew from her second-round match against eighth seed and 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová due to an arm injury.

Shvedova has made three Grand Slam singles quarterfinals: at the 2010, the 2012 French Open and the 2016 Wimbledon Championships. She has won two Grand Slam women's doubles titles, the 2010 Wimbledon Championships and the 2010 US Open, partnering American player Vania King in both. Shvedova is also one of only seven players to record a golden set in the professional era. She achieved this feat at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships in her match against Sara Errani, the only time a golden set was recorded in a Grand Slam.

At the Barcelona Ladies Open, Shvedova defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues in the first round before upsetting fourth-seeded Maria Kirilenko in the second. Next, she defeated Iveta Benešová before falling to eventual tournament and 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the semifinals.

Shvedova enjoyed arguably her best career result at the 2010 French Open. There, she advanced to the quarterfinals in the singles competition. Shvedova defeated eighth seed Agnieszka Radwańska, avenging her loss to her in Miami, en route to the quarterfinals. As the last unseeded player in the tournament, Shvedova was defeated by fourth seed Jelena Janković in the quarterfinal. In mixed doubles, Shvedova partnered with Julian Knowle to reach the final, beating doubles legends Cara Black and Leander Paes, the second seeds, along the way. They fell in a close final to sixth seeds Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonjić.

Shvedova began her clay-court season at the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem. Seeded second, she was defeated in the second round by Anastasia Pivovarova. At the Barcelona Ladies Open, Shvedova lost in the second round to sixth seed and eventual champion Roberta Vinci. Playing at the Mutua Madrid Open, Shvedova lost in the first round to 10th seed Agnieszka Radwańska. At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, she lost in the first round to qualifier Anastasia Rodionova in straight sets. In doubles, she and Vania King reached the final where they lost to Peng Shuai/Zheng Jie, also in straight sets. Shvedova entered the French Open ranked No. 54. Shvedova lost in the first round to 14th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. As a result of not defending her quarterfinalist points from the previous year, her ranking dropped to No. 115. In doubles, she and her regular doubles partner, Vania King, reached the semifinals where they fell to eventual champions Andrea Hlaváčková/Lucie Hradecká in two sets.

At the Toray Pan Pacific Open, Shvedova lost in the first round to 2010 French Open Champion Francesca Schiavone. At the China Open, Shvedova faced 12th seed Dominika Cibulková in the first round. Shvedova won the first set 6–4 and was leading 4–1 in the second set when Cibulkova retired due to a left hip injury. In the second round, she was defeated by Peng Shuai. Seeded fifth at the HP Open, she lost in the first round to wild card Tamarine Tanasugarn. Shvedova played her final tournament of the year at the Kremlin Cup. She beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova but in the second round, Shvedova was defeated by seventh seed Maria Kirilenko.

Shvedova, as the third seed, qualified for the BNP Paribas Open by beating Magda Linette and 13th seed Kimiko Date-Krumm. In the main draw, she reached the third round defeating Chanelle Scheepers and 24th seed Kaia Kanepi. In the third round, she lost to 10th seed and former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. At the Sony Open Tennis, Shvedova defeated 2010 French Open Champion Francesca Schiavone in the first round. In the second round, Shvedova lost to world No. 1 and eventual champion Serena Williams.

Seeded 10th for qualifying at the Western & Southern Open, Shvedova lost in the first round of qualifying to American wild card Nicole Gibbs. At the US Open, Shvedova lost in the first round to Monica Niculescu.

In 2009, Shvedova qualified for the main draw of Roland Garros, defeating Americans Shenay Perry in the first qualifying round and Angela Haynes, in the second. She then beat Elena Baltacha in the final qualifying round to enter the main draw. She beat Kaia Kanepi and advanced to the third round after defeating Arantxa Rus, also a qualifier, in the second. There she lost in a close three-sets third-round match to former number one Maria Sharapova, returning from a long-lasting shoulder injury and then ranked 102.

Shvedova started her clay-court season at the Volvo Car Open. She lost in the second round to fifth seed Sara Errani. At the Mutua Madrid Open, Shvedova lost in the first round of qualifying to Mariana Duque Mariño. At the Italian Open, Shvedova was defeated in the first round of qualifying by Ana Konjuh. Shvedova played her final tournament before the French Open at Internationaux de Strasbourg. She lost in the first round to lucky loser Virginie Razzano. Ranked eighty-nine at the French Open, Shvedova was defeated in the first round by thirteenth seed and 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.

In August 2008, she won an ITF title in Monterrey, Mexico, defeating Magdaléna Rybáriková in the final in two sets. Just over a week later, she won through the qualifying rounds for US Open, but lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in the first round.

In February 2007, she unexpectedly reached the final of the Sony Ericsson International in Bangalore, beating home-crowd favourite and No. 2 seed Sania Mirza in the quarterfinals. In the final, she defeated top-seeded defending champion Mara Santangelo in straight sets, to win her first WTA Tour title. This win caused her to be in the top 100 for the first time, at 78.

At the 2007 Miami Masters, she came through qualifying and impressively recorded her first-ever top 20 win over future number one Ana Ivanovic in the second round, beating her in two sets. However, Tathiana Garbin beat her in the third round.

Shvedova began her clay-court season at the Family Circle Cup. In the first round, she beat Stefanie Vögele. In the second round, Shvedova lost to thirteenth seed Irina-Camelia Begu. Seeded fifth at the Copa Colsanitas, Shvedova reached her first WTA singles final since 2007 defeating Maryna Zanevska, qualifier Sachia Vickery, second seed Monica Puig, and Mariana Duque Mariño. In the final, Shvedova lost to Teliana Pereira. At the Mutua Madrid Open, Shvedova lost in the first round of qualifying to Sesil Karatantcheva. However, in doubles, she and Casey Dellacqua won the title defeating Garbiñe Muguruza/Carla Suárez Navarro in the final. At the Nürnberger Versicherungscup, Shvedova was defeated in the first round by Kiki Bertens. Ranked sixty-nine at the French Open, Shvedova lost in the first round to seventh seed and 2008 Champion Ana Ivanovic. In doubles, she and her partner, Casey Dellacqua, reached the final where they lost to Mattek-Sands/Šafářová.

Shvedova ended the year ranked No. 206, her lowest year-end singles ranking since 2005. She also won four WTA doubles titles. Her decline in form in singles was explained by a knee injury that required surgery.

Shvedova was born to Russian father Vyacheslav and Bashkir mother Nurzia, who used to be a professional runner (winner of the International Association of Ultra Runners 100 km World Championships, 1992). Shvedova has one brother. She began playing tennis at age 8 when her father introduced her to the sport in Chernogolovka (Moscow region). Shvedova changed her nationality from Russian to Kazakhstani in 2008 as part of the country's attempts to boost its sporting profile. Shvedova gave birth to twins in October 2018.

Yaroslava Vyacheslavovna Shvedova (Russian: Яросла́ва Вячесла́вовна Шве́дова , born 12 September 1987) is a tennis player who was born in Russia and who represented Kazakhstan.

Shvedova returned from injury in February to play at Dubai where she lost in the first round to Zhang Shuai. Shvedova went to play at the Qatar Ladies Open. Seeded fifth for qualifying, she was defeated in the first round of qualifying by wild card Elena Vesnina. In March, she traveled to Indian Wells to compete at the BNP Paribas Open where she lost in the first round to Kimiko Date-Krumm. After Indian Wells, Shvedova went to Miami to play at the Sony Ericsson Open. After beating Sara Errani in the first round, Shvedova retired in her second-round match against 28th seed Jarmila Groth due to a left thigh muscle strain.