Olga Vasilyevna Morozova (Russian: Ольга Васильевна Морозова, IPA:[ˈolʲɡəmɐˈrozəvə]ⓘ; 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".[citation needed]
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 quarters, and then came back from a set down against Virginia Wade to win the semi-final 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 Grand Slam title when she teamed with Evert to win the women's doubles championship at the French Open in 1974. She was 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 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 was the runner-up at the 1975 Australian Open (teaming with Margaret Court), the 1975 French Open (teaming with Julie Anthony) and the 1976 US Open (teaming 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".[2]Andy Murray has subsequently mentioned that she coached him when he was "12, 13 years old".[3]
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.[5]
In 2000, the Russian Tennis Federation awarded Morozova the honour of Russian Tennis Player of the Twentieth Century.[6]
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.[7][8][9]
^Melik-Karamov, Vitaly (15 December 1996). "В Англии люди другие, но жить с ними можно" [The English People Are Different from Us but Living Alongside Them Is [Practically] Bearable]. kommersant.ru (in Russian). Kommersant. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
^"Рубанов Виктор Борисович" [Roubanov Viktor Borisovich]. sport-strana.ru (in Russian). Sport-Strana. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
^"Viktor Roubanov: "British Tennis Players Have Too Comfortable, Well-Fed Life"". u-f.ru (in Russian). Russian Federation: Youzhny Federalny. 12 July 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2024. For example, the National Sports Centre of Great Britain, where I work. It was built in Bisham Abbey, and the club house is located in a 14th-century castle, with huge fireplaces, old paintings on the walls, and we have lunch in one of the most beautiful halls. And the courts there are right on the bank of the Thames, yachts sail past, people drink champagne on them and happily wave at you. Who would want to work in such an environment! But it turned out that this is possible. But it was incredibly difficult for me to convince at least some English parents that you need to train not once a week for an hour, but at least three times a week - for four hours. Then the results will appear
^Rerich, Elena (23 March 1998). "Larisa Preobrazhenskaya: "Little Kournikova Couldn't Be Unnoticed"". sport-express.ru (in Russian). Sport Express. Retrieved 14 August 2024. She was found by Viktor Roubanov, Olga Morozova's husband. Anya had been training in the subscription group at Druzhba with Anna Konstantinovna Sosnina since she was 5. Viktor found her there and offered to transfer to us at Spartak. At that time, we were leading the group together
Notes:1 = switched from Kazakhstan; 2 = juniors' circuit player awarded before the existence of the Juniors nomination, 3 = wheelchair, 4 = postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
