Elena Makarova

Elena Alekseyevna Makarova (, , born 1 February 1973), is a former Russian professional tennis player.

Makarova played in the WTA Tour from 1991 to 1999. Her peak performances were in 1995, when she was ranked world No. 36 in doubles, and in 1996, when she was ranked No. 43 in singles. In 2011, she coached Russian tennis player Margarita Gasparyan.

WTA Tour finals Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups) Legend WTA Championships 0 Tier I 0 Tier II 0 Tier III 0 Tier IV & V 0 ResultW-LDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Sep 1995 Moscow, Russia Carpet (i) Magdalena Maleeva 4–6, 2–6Loss 0–2 Jul 1997 Palermo, Italy Clay Sandrine Testud 5–7, 3–6

Doubles: 1 (1 title) Legend WTA Championships 0 Tier I 0 Tier II 0 Tier III 1 Tier IV & V 0

ResultW-LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1–0 Sep 1994 Moscow, Russia Carpet (o) Eugenia Maniokova Laura Golarsa Caroline Vis 7–6, 6–4

ITF Circuit finals Singles: 11 (6 titles, 5 runner-ups) Legend$100,000 tournaments$75,000 tournaments$50,000 tournaments$25,000 tournaments$10,000 tournamentsFinals by surfaceHard (2–1)Clay (2–2)Grass (0–0)Carpet (2–1) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1. 12 August 1991 Rebecq, Belgium Clay Kateřina Šišková 3–6, 0–6Win 1. 15 September 1991 Haskovo, Bulgaria Clay Lubomira Bacheva 6–4, 6–4Win 2. 9 December 1991 Érd, Hungary Hard (i) Petra Holubová 7–5, 6–1Win 3. 20 January 1992 Bergen, Norway Carpet (i) Julia Jehs 6–0, 6–0Loss 2. 27 July 1992 Rheda-Wiedenbrück, Germany Clay Barbara Mulej 5–7, 3–6Win 4. 19 October 1992 Moscow, Russia Clay Svetlana Parkhomenko 7–5, 6–2Loss 3. 14 November 1992 Manchester, England Carpet (i) Nancy Feber 5–7, 6–4, 2–6Win 5. 22 November 1992 Nottingham, United Kingdom Carpet (i) Elena Pampoulova 3–6, 6–2, 7–5Win 6. 6 December 1993 Val-d'Oise, France Hard (i) Petra Langrová 0–6, 6–3, 6–2Loss 4. 4 October 1998 Tbilisi, Georgia Clay Evgenia Kulikovskaya 6–2, 2–6, 5–7Loss 5. 1 November 1998 Poitiers, France Hard (i) Sandra Načuk 0–6, 7–5, 1–6

Doubles: 8 (6 titles, 2 runner-ups) $100,000 tournaments$75,000 tournaments$50,000 tournaments$25,000 tournaments$10,000 tournamentsFinals by surfaceHard (3–1)Clay (2–1)Grass (0–0)Carpet (1–0) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentScoreLoss 1. 1 April 1991 Šibenik, Yugoslavia Clay Irina Sukhova Zdeňka Málková Janette Husárová 1–6, 5–7Win 1. 30 March 1992 Moncalieri, Italy Clay Kateřina Šišková Radka Bobková Jana Pospíšilová 6–4, 2–6, 6–2Win 2. 25 May 1992 Putignano, Italy Hard Olga Lugina Aida Khalatian Karina Kuregian 6–2, 6–4Win 3. 15 November 1992 Manchester, United Kingdom Carpet (i) Elena Likhovtseva Elena Pampoulova Natalie Tschan 6–3, 6–4Loss 2. 28 March 1993 Brest, France Hard Elena Likhovtseva Kristie Boogert Linda Niemantsverdriet 6–4, 5–7, 5–7Win 4. 5 July 1993 Erlangen, Germany Clay Eugenia Maniokova Janette Husárová Danielle Thomas 6–1, 6–4Win 5. 6 December 1993 Val-d'Oise, France Hard (i) Magdalena Feistel Isabelle Demongeot Catherine Suire 2–6, 6–3, 6–4Win 6. 1 November 1998 Poitiers, France Hard (i) Olga Lugina Gabriela Kučerová Radka Pelikánová 6–0, 6–1

Head to head Lindsay Davenport: 0–3 Venus Williams: 1–0 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario: 1–2 Dominique Monami: 0–1 Martina Hingis: 0–1

Junior Grand Slam finals Girls' singles: 1 (runner-up) ResultYearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1991 Wimbledon Grass Barbara Rittner 7–6(8–6), 2–6, 3–6

Legacy In Russia, despite her modest popularity as a top-50 player, Makarova is well known for providing her explanation for the issue of LGBT-athletes being more common among female tennis players than on the ATP Tour (while the most popular example was Toomas Leius according to the locally popular 1993 short story Fugue with [Male] Tennis Player by Mikhail Veller). She said the following: “When you get tired after a match or training, you no longer want to dress up or go to a party. Therefore, some tennis players solve the problem of sex [absence] by means of "lesser bloodshed" [local idiom which means "easy" in a dual meaning: the simpler the better or silly] — with each other. Besides, you can't afford to take your beloved man with you — he has to work himself". The last part has been clarified to mean that "most female tennis players cannot afford traveling with their beloved man financially".