In 2001, she failed to qualify for WTA Tour events in Key Biscayne and Moscow, but reached a semifinal at the ITF tournament in Civitanova, Italy.

In 2002, Zvonareva won her second ITF title in Naples, Florida and in July reached her first singles final on the WTA Tour at Palermo, losing to Mariana Díaz Oliva, in three sets.

In 2004, Zvonareva won her first career Grand Slam title, winning the mixed doubles competition at the US Open with Bob Bryan.

She won one singles title, in Memphis and reached the final of the events in Cincinnati and Philadelphia, losing to top-10 players Lindsay Davenport and Amélie Mauresmo.

[citation needed] Zvonareva obtained an invitation from the Hong Kong Tennis Patrons' Association to play in the Watsons Water Champions Challenge.

Zvonareva then reached the quarterfinals of the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, before losing to eventual champion Ana Ivanovic, 1–6, 4–6.

Two weeks later, Zvonareva reached the semifinals of the Tier I Miami Open in Key Biscayne, where she lost to fourth seed Jelena Janković, 1–6, 4–6.

At the Beijing Olympics, Zvonareva lost in the semifinals to fifth seeded Dementieva, 4–6, 6–7, but then defeated Li Na to win the bronze medal.

[8] At the Guangzhou International Open, a Tier III event, she defeated Zheng Jie in straight sets in the semifinals, before beating Peng Shuai in the final.

Zvonareva went on to win beating Mathilde Johansson, before she withdrew in the third round against the 26th seed, Virginie Razzano, due to a recurrence of the ankle injury.

She defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives, Anna Chakvetadze, and Elena Vesnina, before missing six match points and crumbling to Flavia Pennetta, 6–3, 6–7, 0–6, at the US Open.

Seeded ninth at the Australian Open, she made it to the fourth round, winning her first three matches against Kristína Kučová, Iveta Benešová, and Gisela Dulko.

At the Miami Open, Zvonareva lost to Justine Henin, 1–6, 4–6, in the fourth round, after defeating Melanie Oudin and Sara Errani in straight sets.

[2] At the Hong Kong Tennis Classic, she joined Russia's group and won in the final against Europe with Maria Kirilenko and Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

Despite winning two of her four previous matches after trailing a set in the tournament, Victoria Azarenka, the eighth seed, dispatched Zvonareva in the semifinals, 6–0, 6–3.

Beginning the grass-court season at Eastbourne as the top seed, Zvonareva defeated Heather Watson, 6–3, 6–3, and Serena Williams, 3–6, 7–6, 7–5, but lost to Samantha Stosur, in three sets in the quarterfinals.

[10] Zvonareva was second seed at Wimbledon, defeating Alison Riske, 6–0, 3–6, 6–3, in the first round and Elena Vesnina, 6–1, 7–6, in the second, before falling to Tsvetana Pironkova, in straight sets in a rematch of the previous year's semifinal match.

She defeated Ekaterina Makarova, Petra Martić, and Daniela Hantuchová en route to the semifinals, where she fell to the fourth seed and eventual champion Maria Sharapova, in three sets.

[16] Seeded sixth and the defending champion at the Qatar Ladies Open, she retired in the second set of her second-round match against Monica Niculescu due to that same injury.

[17] Seeded ninth at the Indian Wells Open, she pulled out of her third-round match versus Klára Zakopalová due to a viral illness.

[23] Representing Russia at the Summer Olympics, Zvonareva suffered the worst defeat of her entire playing career, losing to eventual gold medalist Serena Williams in the third round.

[37] Entering the main draw as a wildcard at the Thailand Open, Zvonareva advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Wang Qiang and eighth seed Zhang Shuai.

[62] Zvonareva had a strong end to the year at the Kremlin Cup, after reaching the quarterfinals as a qualifier, notching a top 10 win over Karolína Plíšková with the loss of just three games.

[63] Her last tournament of the year was the Open de Limoges, where she reached the singles semifinal and the doubles final alongside Galina Voskoboeva.

[86][87] When the WTA resumed tournament play in August, Zvonareva competed at the Lexington Challenger where she was eliminated in the first round by Jessica Pegula.

[89] The Cincinnati Open was held at the USTA BJK National Tennis Center for the first time, lowering the risk of the transmission of the virus behind closed doors.

[108] Coming through qualifying at the Eastbourne International, Zvonareva retired during her first-round match against Daria Kasatkina due to a hip injury.

[109] Ranked 96 at Wimbledon, she won her first-round match over Marie Bouzková[110] but was beaten in the second round by seventh seed and 2020 French Open champion, Iga Świątek.

369, she qualified for the main draw of the WTA 500 Zhengzhou Open and defeated ninth seed and compatriot Veronika Kudermetova, her first top-20 win since Rome in May 2021.

[137] In 2010, they met in two important semifinals: Zvonareva winning at the US Open[138] and Wozniacki prevailing at the 2010 WTA Tour Championships in a match which decided which of the two would finish 2010 ranked world No.