Alexandra Alexandrovna Panova (Russian: Александра Александровна Панова; born 2 March 1989) is a Russian professional tennis player. On 10 June 2024, she peaked at No. 36 in the doubles rankings. On 30 July 2012, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 71.
She has won eight doubles titles on the WTA Tour. On the ITF Women's Circuit, she won two of her 16 doubles titles with her older sister, Olga Panova.
In January, Panova obtained an invitation from the Hong Kong Tennis Patrons' Association to play JB Group Classic with her compatriot Anna Chakvetadze (she replaced Maria Sharapova for injury) and Vera Zvonareva, and then she entered the Australian Open women's qualifying singles unseeded and made it to the qualifying third round, before losing to unseeded Julia Schruff of Germany, in two sets.
In August, Panova made her Grand Slam debut at the 2011 US Open by coming through qualifying. In the first round, she faced the eighth seed Marion Bartoli, a match that she ended up losing in straight sets.[1]
In February 2012, Panova made it to her first WTA Tour final at the Copa Colsanitas, upsetting the fifth seed Gisela Dulko along the way. She lost to Lara Arruabarrena in the singles final, but won her first WTA title in doubles. She then won her second doubles title of the year at the Morocco Open.
At the US Open, Panova faced then-world No. 1 and eventual runner-up, Victoria Azarenka, in the first round and was heavily defeated, losing in straight sets and winning just one game.
Panova participated in the Fed Cup final against Italy. She lost a marathon match against Roberta Vinci in the first rubber. Panova squandered a 7–5, 5–2, 40–15 lead. Italy went on to win the Fed Cup tie 3–0.
Panova started her 2014 season at the Brisbane International. Getting past qualifying, she lost in her first-round match to 2012 champion Kaia Kanepi.[2] At the Australian Open, Panova was defeated in the second round of qualifying by Stéphanie Dubois.
Panova won her fourth Tour doubles title at the Baku Cup, partnering with British Heather Watson. In the final they crushed Raluca Olaru and Shahar Pe'er.[3]
Now with Margarita Gasparyan as her doubles partner, Panova reached the finals of the Tashkent Open, losing to Krunić/Siniaková. This was Gasparyan's first WTA Tour final in her career.
Panova entered the main draw at the 2015 Australian Open through qualifying. She won her first ever match at a major tournament by beating Sorana Cîrstea in the first round. She then came up against fellow countrywoman Maria Sharapova in the second round and lost in three sets after having two match points on her serve.[4]
Panova started the 2016 season losing in the qualifyings of Brisbane, Australian Open and St. Petersburg. She recorded her first main-draw entry at the Malaysian Open, losing there in the first round. She renewed herself in Bogotá, where she had been traditionally playing well. There, Panova defeated top-seeded Elina Svitolina, saving five match points in the third set after being 3–6 behind.[5]
As an unseeded pair partnering Cristina Bucșa, she made her first major quarterfinal at the 2024 Australian Open, defeating eighth-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia and Taylor Townsend. They then lost to fourth seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe in straight sets.[6]
She also reached the quarterfinals at the 2024 French Open for the first time at this major, this time with Giuliana Olmos, with an upset over fourth seeds Barbora Krejčíková and Laura Siegemund.[7]
Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.
Current through the 2023 Linz Open.
