Olga Morozova

Olga Vasilyevna Morozova (; born 22 February 1949) is a Russian former professional tennis player. Competing for the Soviet Union, she was the runner-up in women's singles at the 1974 French Open and 1974 Wimbledon Championships, and the first Soviet player to win a major, in women's doubles at the 1974 French Open. Her ground-breaking playing career, combined with her distinguished coaching career, has led to Morozova being labelled the "Godmother of Russian tennis".

Career Morozova started playing tennis at the age of 10, with Nina Teplyakova as her first and career-long coach. By 16, Morozova had improved so quickly that she was invited to represent the USSR at Wimbledon in the girls singles.

Travelling internationally for the first time and playing on grass for the first time, Morozova won the 1965 Wimbledon Junior Girls' singles title.

Morozova would go on to become the first Soviet tennis player, male or female, to reach the singles final of any major tournament when she was the runner-up at the 1972 Italian Open. However, the peak of Morozova's career came during the summer of 1974 when she was the women's singles runner-up at both Wimbledon and the French Open, losing to Chris Evert on both occasions. At Wimbledon she shocked the defending champion Billie Jean King in straight sets in the quarterfinals, and then came back from a set down against Virginia Wade to win the semifinal 6–4 in the third. She rose to No. 3 in the world going into the US Open that year – the highest ranking she achieved in her career.

Morozova became the first Soviet tennis player, male or female, to win a major title when she teamed with Evert to win the women's doubles championship at the French Open in 1974. She was also the first Soviet player to lead her team to the Federation Cup semifinals in 1978 (and again in 1979). She and Alex Metreveli were the first USSR players to reach a Grand Slam tournament final when they teamed at Wimbledon in 1968, losing to Margaret Court and Ken Fletcher. In addition to winning the French Open doubles in 1974, Morozova finished runner-up at the 1975 Australian Open (teaming with Margaret Court), the 1975 French Open (with Julie Anthony) and the 1976 US Open (with Virginia Wade).

Morozova's playing career was cut short in 1977 because of the USSR's policy against allowing their athletes to compete with South Africans. At this point, she retired early from the professional tour. Morozova then began a coaching career. She became head coach of the Soviet Union ladies squad through the 1980s leading the Soviets to their first appearance in a Federation Cup Final (1988, losing to Czechoslovakia). Morozova also helped pioneer the creation of the Kremlin Cup.

In 1990, the LTA hired Morozova as head of girls tennis, based at the national performance centre in Bisham Abbey, UK. Morozova became a fixture in UK tennis for much of the 1990s. In December 1996, in a Russian interview, she noted a key difference in the approach to sport between the UK and Russia: "For them [the English], participation is considered more important than winning. They fancy Coubertin a lot. For us, Russians, it is still important to win". Andy Murray has subsequently mentioned that she coached him when he was "12, 13 years old".

In 2003, Morozova began working individually with notable players, including amongst others Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Sergiy Stakhovsky, Laura Robson and more recently Harriet Dart. Morozova has been widely credited as one of the few female coaches to work at the very highest levels of the tour.

In 1998, she was awarded the Sarah Palfrey Danzig Trophy for character, sportsmanship, manners, spirit of cooperation, and contribution to the growth of the game as well as the help she rendered to professional players and junior players.

In 2000, the Russian Tennis Federation awarded Morozova the honour of Russian Tennis Player of the Twentieth Century.

Morozova's husband is Viktor Roubanov (1971 champion of Moscow in singles), and he also was one of the first coaches of Anna Kournikova. He also coached Shirli-Ann Siddall during her first breakthrough — winning a match in the Wimbledon main draw — period.

Grand Slam finals Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups) ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1974 French Open Clay Chris Evert 1–6, 2–6Loss 1974 Wimbledon Grass Chris Evert 0–6, 4–6

Doubles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)

Mixed doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1968 Wimbledon Grass Alex Metreveli Margaret Court Ken Fletcher 1–6, 12–14Loss 1970 Wimbledon Grass Alex Metreveli Rosemary Casals Ilie Năstase 3–6, 6–4, 7–9

WTA Tour finals Singles: 16 (8 titles, 8 runner-ups)

Doubles: 27 (16 titles, 11 runner-ups)

ITF Circuit finals Singles: 30 (25–5) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1. Jan 1967 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Anna Dmitrieva 9–7, 8–6Win 2. Sep 1967 Tbilisi, Soviet Union Hard (i) Anna Dmitrieva 7–5, 4–6, 6–1Win 3. Jan 1968 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Anna Dmitrieva 7–9, 6–1, 10–8Win 4. Aug 1968 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard Marina Chuvirina 6–1, 6–3Win 5. Feb 1969 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Betty Stöve 6–2, 6–2Loss 6. Mar 1969 Cairo, Egypt Clay Lea Pericoli 1–6, 2–6Loss 7. Mar 1969 Alexandria, Egypt Clay Nell Truman 3–6, 6–2, 3–6Win 8. Jan 1970 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Marina Chuvirina 6–3, 6–2Win 9. Feb 1970 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Anna Yeremeyeva 6–4, 6–2Loss 10. Feb 1970 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Helga Niessen 5–7, 6–2, 3–6Win 11. Mar 1970 Cairo, Egypt Clay Lea Pericoli 6–3, 3–6, 9–7Win 12. Mar 1970 Cairo, Egypt Clay Marcela Barochová 6–4, 6–0Loss 13. Jun 1970 Beckenham, United Kingdom Grass Patti Hogan 1–6, 3–6Win 14. Aug 1970 Moscow, Soviet Union Clay Tiiu Kivi 6–4, 6–4Win 15. Dec 1970 Adelaide, Australia Hard Kristien Shaw-Kemmer 6–4, 4–6, 9–7Win 16. Mar 1971 Cairo, Egypt Clay Lea Pericoli 7–5, 6–0Win 17. Jan 1972 Hobart, Australia Grass Mona Schallau 6–3, 6–3Win 18. Jan 1972 Perth, Australia Grass Janet Young 6–4, 6–2Win 19. Apr 1972 Tashkent, Soviet Union Hard Eugenia Birioukova 6–2, 6–0Win 20. Jun 1972 Beckenham, United Kingdom Grass Jill Cooper 6–4, 6–1Win 21. Aug 1972 Tallinn, Estonia Clay Zaiga Jansone 6–1, 6–0Loss 22. Aug 1972 Bucarest, Romania Clay Marina Kroschina 6–4, 2–6, 5–7Win 23. Aug 1972 Moscow, Soviet Union Clay Marina Kroschina 8–6, 6–2Win 24. Feb 1973 Baku, Soviet Union Hard (i) Marina Kroschina 6–1, 6–2Win 25. Mar 1973 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Galina Baksheeva 6–2, 6–3Win 26. Aug 1973 Pescara, Italy Clay Éva Szabó 6–0, 1–6, 9–7Win 27. Feb 1974 Salavat, Soviet Union Hard (i) Yelena Granaturova 6–4, 4–6, 6–2Win 28. Feb 1974 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Marina Kroschina 6–3, 6–1Win 29. Aug 1975 Tallinn, Estonia Clay Marina Kroschina 2–6, 7–6, 6–0Win 30. Aug 1979 Sopot, Poland Clay Hana Mandlíková 4–6, 7–6, 6–3

Doubles: 37 (27–10) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1. February 1967 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Tatiana Chalko Galina Baksheeva Anna Dmitrieva 2–6, 1–6Loss 2. March 1967 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Tatiana Chalko Galina Baksheeva Anna Dmitrieva 3–6, 1–6Loss 3. February 1968 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Rauza Islanova Galina Baksheeva Anna Dmitrieva 2–6, 5–7Win 4. July 1968 Båstad, Sweden Hard Eva Lundqvist Kathy Harter Julie Heldman 6–2, 6–3Win 5. August 1968 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard Marina Chuvirina Kerry Harris Lesley Hunt 6–0, 6–4Win 6. February 1969 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Zaiga Jansone Tiiu Kivi Maria Kull 6–4, 8–6Win 7. August 1969 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard Zaiga Jansone Galina Baksheeva Marina Chuvirina 6–3, 6–2Win 8. September 1969 Turin, Italy Hard Zaiga Jansone Marina Chuvirina Tiiu Kivi 6–1, 4–6, 6–3Win 9. January 1970 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Zaiga Jansone Rauza Islanova Eugenia Isopaitis 6–2, 6–2Win 10. February 1970 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Zaiga Jansone Tiiu Kivi Maria Kull 6–3, 6–4Loss 11. February 1970 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Zaiga Jansone Nell Truman Joyce Williams 5–7, 5–7Win 12. August 1970 Sofia, Bulgaria Clay Tiiu Kivi Eugenia Isopaitis Marina Kroschina 6–2, 6–1Win 13. August 1970 Moscow, Soviet Union Clay Tiiu Kivi Peggy Michel Valerie Ziegenfuss 6–4, 6–3Win 14. January 1971 Hobart, Australia Grass Patti Hogan Brenda Kirk Laura Rossouw 6–2, 6–0Loss 15. January 1972 Hobart, Australia Grass Barbara Hawcroft Mona Schallau Janet Young 3–6, 2–6Win 16. February 1972 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Zaiga Jansone Eugenia Birioukova Marina Kroschina 6–3, 5–7, 6–4Loss 17. April 1972 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Helga Niessen Masthoff Lucia Bassi Lea Pericoli 4–6, 4–6Win 18. April 1972 Tashkent, Soviet Union Hard Zaiga Jansone Eugenia Birioukova Marina Kroschina 5–7, 6–3, 11–9Win 19. June 1972 Beckenham, United Kingdom Grass Sharon Walsh Laura DuPont Mona Schallau 8–6, 6–1Win 20. August 1972 Tallinn, Estonia Clay Zaiga Jansone Galina Baksheeva Anna Yeremeyeva 4–6, 6–3, 6–3Win 21. August 1972 Bucarest, Romania Clay Zaiga Jansone Eugenia Birioukova Marina Kroschina 6–1, 6–1Win 22. October 1972 Donetsk, Soviet Union Clay Zaiga Jansone Aleksandra Ivanova Eugenia Isopaitis 6–3, 6–3Loss 23. January 1973 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Eugenia Isopaitis Galina Baksheeva Marina Chuvirina 3–6, 6–3, 3–6Win 24. January 1973 Tallinn, Estonia Hard (i) Marina Chuvirina Eugenia Birioukova Anna Yeremeyeva 6–0, 7–5Win 25. February 1973 Baku, Soviet Union Hard (i) Zaiga Jansone Galina Baksheeva Marina Chuvirina 6–3, 6–1Win 26. July 1973 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Aleksandra Ivanova Janet Young Evonne Goolagong 2–6, 6–4, 6–2Win 27. August 1973 Pescara, Italy Clay Zaiga Jansone Eugenia Birioukova Marina Kroschina 6–3, 3–6, 6–1Win 28. February 1974 Salavat, Soviet Union Hard (i) Eugenia Birioukova Rauza Islanova Eugenia Isopaitis 6–3, 6–4Loss 29. February 1974 Moscow, Soviet Union Hard (i) Eugenia Birioukova Galina Baksheeva Marina Chuvirina 5–7, 1–6Loss 30. June 1974 Eastbourne, United Kingdom Grass Chris Evert Helen Gourlay-Cawley Karen Krantzcke 2–6, 0–6Win 31. August 1974 Wrocław, Poland Clay Marina Kroschina Natasha Chmyreva Yelena Granaturova 6–2, 6–0Win 32. July 1975 Tallinn, Estonia Clay Marina Kroschina Natasha Chmyreva Marina Chuvirina 6–1, 6–2Win 33. August 1975 Vienna, Austria Clay Marina Kroschina Martina Navratilova Renáta Tomanová 4–6, 7–5, 6–4Win 34. August 1975 Tallinn, Estonia Clay Marina Kroschina Galina Baksheeva Lydia Zinkevich 6–7, 6–4, 6–2Loss 35. November 1975 Osaka, Japan Hard (i) Jeanne Evert Françoise Dürr Rosie Casals 3–6, 3–6Win 36. August 1976 Přerov, Czechoslovakia Clay Marina Chuvirina Galina Baksheeva Natasha Chmyreva 6–4, 6–4Win 37. August 1979 Sopot, Soviet Union Clay Natasha Chmyreva Eugenia Birioukova Natalia Borodina 1–6, 6–0, 6–0

Junior Grand Slam finals Girls' singles (1–0) ResultYearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1965 Wimbledon Grass Raquel Giscafré 6–3, 6–3

Grand Slam singles performance timeline