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Anastasia Myskina is just not somebody identified too nicely exterior of tennis, however her Roland Garros win 20 years in the past is among the most vital Grand Slam victories in fashionable historical past.
Twenty years on from her triumph on June fifth, 2004, we take a look at how Myskina’s win was a watershed second for ladies’s tennis.
Slim pickings for Russian WTA stars
The late Nineties and early 2000s noticed a increase in Russian tennis, with Yevgeny Kafelnikov the primary Russian to win a singles main on the 1996 French Open, later successful the 1999 Australian Open and 2000 Olympic Video games in Sydney.
Kafelnikov would attain world No 1 on the ATP Tour, as did Marat Safin, who gained the primary of his two Grand Slams on the US Open in 2000.
Elena Dementieva’s silver medal in Sydney was additionally vital, arguably the largest achievement by a Russian lady since Olga Morozova reached the 1974 Roland Garros and Wimbledon finals.
However within the girls’s recreation, Russia didn’t make any actual vital Slam breakthroughs within the early 2000s, with America largely nonetheless dominating.
That each one modified in 2004.
Myskina spearheads Russian cost
By the 2004 French Open, there was a Russian surge within the girls’s recreation, with 1 / 4 of the 32 seeded gamers from the nation – together with 5 seeds inside the highest 11.
The nationwide No 1 was Myskina, the sixth seed in Paris, however not a participant thought-about a title contender.
After beating eleventh seed and compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova in spherical 4, the 23-year-old was one in every of three Russian girls within the final eight, alongside ninth seed Dementieva, and 18th seed Maria Sharapova.
Sharapova, then solely 17, fell to Paola Suarez – however Myskina dispatched Venus Williams in straight units to succeed in the final 4, as Dementieva picked up a equally emphatic win over Amelie Mauresmo.
When Myskina then beat Jennifer Capriati, and Dementieva defeated Suarez, historical past was ensured; a Russian lady would win a significant singles title.
By and huge, the ultimate was not a memorable one.
Crippled by nerves, Dementieva remodeled 50 unforced errors, and a cushty 6-1, 6-2 win for Myskina noticed her elevate the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen.
It was her solely Slam remaining and her profession would finish prematurely as a consequence of a again harm in 2007, however she proved to be a major trailblazer in the long term.
One-Slam Wonders: Anastasia Myskina’s French Open fairytale
Dominance
Russia didn’t have to attend lengthy for a second feminine Slam winner, or a 3rd.
Weeks after Myskina’s second, Sharapova claimed a memorable Wimbledon victory, successful her first Slam as a 17-year-old.
That was rapidly adopted by a maiden Slam win for Kuznetsova, who was solely 19 when she beat Dementieva within the US Open remaining on the finish of that summer time.
Having gone from no feminine Slam champions to 3 within the area of some months, the nation was established as an enormous drive, and that continued to be the case for the subsequent decade.
Sharapova rose to world No 1 for the primary time in 2005 and finally gained 5 Grand Slam titles, changing into one of the outstanding feminine sports activities stars in historical past.
Kuznetsova went on to win the 2009 French Open, defeating compatriot Dinara Safina within the remaining, with Safina herself a former world No 1 and three-time Slam runner-up.
Within the best second of her profession, Dementieva downed Safina for Olympic gold in Beijing, and the rostrum was a clear sweep after Vera Zvonareva triumphed the bronze medal match.
Zvonareva would peak at world No 2 after consecutive Wimbledon and US Open finals in 2010, whereas Nadia Petrova and Anna Chakvetadze additionally helped cement Russia’s place as a tennis superpower.
Ongoing controversy
Russian girls’s tennis hasn’t fairly reached these heights not too long ago, however there has nonetheless been success.
The nation gained the Billie Jean King Cup in 2021, with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova reaching the French Open remaining that very same 12 months.
Present Russian No 1 Daria Kasatkina has been as excessive as world No 8, whereas Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina gained three doubles Slams and Olympic gold in Rio.
Nevertheless, the presence of Russian gamers on tour has attracted controversy not too long ago.
Within the mid-2010s, the invention of state-sponsored doping inside Russia drew common condemnation, with the nation banned from a number of sports activities, notably athletics and swimming – however a ban in tennis by no means appeared probably.
Gamers technically competed for the ‘Russian Tennis Federation’ in group occasions and championships, however the presence of gamers on the Olympics raised one or two eyebrows exterior of tennis, contemplating actions elsewhere.
Perceptions have been definitely not additionally helped by Sharapova being dragged into one of many highest-profile doping scandals of all time, the star banned for 15 months after testing optimistic for meldonium on the 2016 Australian Open.
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Now, it’s inconceivable to disregard the controversy surrounding the presence of Russian gamers amid the continuing invasion of Ukraine.
Most sports activities that hadn’t already banned Russian athletes as a consequence of varied doping scandals enforced a suspension after the invasion in February 2022 – however not tennis.
Gamers comparable to Kasatkina and Pavlyuchenkova, amongst numerous others throughout the WTA and ATP, don’t compete for Russia – they technically compete as impartial athletes.
However nobody forgets the place these gamers are from, not least Ukrainian stars comparable to Elina Svitolina – who has led requires the nation to be totally banned.
The matter involves a head on the WTA, the place a number of Russian and Ukrainian gamers sit in the direction of the highest of the sport, and matches between these gamers happen extra typically than the game’s management would love.
With stars like Mirra Andreeva rising, Russian girls’s tennis is just not going wherever quickly.
The query is, how will their continued presence within the girls’s recreation be perceived, and can any future main success be celebrated contemplating the disdain of some?
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