Nina Teplyakova
Nina Sergeevna Teplyakova (November 10, 1904 – July 22, 1983) was a Soviet dancer, tennis player, and tennis coach. She earned high honors in sport, including Merited Master of Sport (1936) and Merited Coach of the USSR (1956), and received the Order of the Badge of Honor (1937). She was a nine-time USSR champion and later coached about 20 Masters of Sport, including Anna Dmitrieva, Olga Morozova, and Olga Zaitseva.
Teplyakova was born in Baku, the daughter of an accountant. She started playing tennis after meeting Nikolai Ivanov, a leading Soviet player, who encouraged her to take up the sport in Mamontovka near Moscow. She first appeared on the court in 1922 at the Moscow Championship, losing in singles to Sofia Maltseva. Her coach, who would become her husband, pushed her to pursue tennis seriously.
In 1926, Teplyakova defeated Maltseva and the reigning champion Elena Alexandrova at the USSR match-tournament, a sensational result. The next year she topped the newly introduced USSR top-ten ranking and won the World Labor Spartakiad in Berlin. Throughout the 1930s she remained a top player. After recovering from illness, she won the USSR singles title six times in a row, a record that still stands, and led the All-Union women's rankings nine times (last in 1939). In 1940 Galina Korovina surpassed her in both the championship and the rankings.
Teplyakova played mainly from the baseline, known for her speed around the court, sharp tactics, and feel for the game. She took part in international events, including a 1935 anti-fascist athletes’ rally in Paris and a 1938 tour by Czech players, where she learned new techniques. She also played matches against opponents from Turkey, Belgium, and France. During World War II she trained in hand-to-hand combat and served as an instructor with Vsevobuch. She won the Moscow Championship again in 1942, but a knee injury in the 1943 Open Championship of Moscow effectively ended her playing career.
After retiring from playing, Teplyakova became a coach. One of her first students, Elizaveta Chuvirina, became USSR Champion after three years of coaching, and Chuvirina’s daughter Marina also became a champion with Teplyakova’s guidance. Teplyakova helped develop top players like Anna Dmitrieva and Olga Morozova; Morozova has noted the influence of Teplyakova’s coaching on her opponent’s style. Svetlana Parkhomenko (Cherneva) also trained under her, achieving multiple USSR titles and doubles wins.
Nina Teplyakova died in 1983 and was buried at Kuntsevo Cemetery in Moscow. In 2003, she was honored by inclusion in the Russian Tennis Hall of Fame.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:42 (CET).