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11 Facts About Olga Morozova

1.

Olga Morozova's ground-breaking playing career, combined with her distinguished coaching career, has led to Morozova being labelled the "Godmother of Russian tennis".

2.

Olga 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.

3.

However, the peak of Olga 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.

4.

Olga 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.

5.

Olga Morozova was the first Soviet player to lead her team to the Federation Cup semifinals in 1978.

6.

Olga Morozova's playing career was cut short in 1977 because of the USSR's policy against allowing their athletes to compete with South Africans.

7.

Olga Morozova became head coach of the Soviet Union ladies squad through the 1980s leading the Soviets to their first appearance in a Federation Cup Final.

8.

Olga Morozova became a fixture in UK tennis for much of the 1990s.

9.

In 2003, Olga Morozova began working individually with notable players, including amongst others Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Sergiy Stakhovsky, Laura Robson and more recently Harriet Dart.

10.

Olga Morozova has been widely credited as one of the few female coaches to work at the very highest levels of the tour.

11.

Olga Morozova's husband is Viktor Roubanov, and he was one of the first coaches of Anna Kournikova.