A new method was developed to produce tensile specimens with pre-machined holes for superplastic zirconia ceramics. Tensile specimens with effective hole sizes of 450 mum were successfully produced using graphite fibers. Although the size of the defect introduced is relatively large compared to the grain size enough deformation is obtained for qualitative and quantitative analysis for Y-TZP. 3Y-TZP and 3Y-TZP co-doped with germanium and titanium oxide revealed cavity growth coefficients that varied with strain rate and temperature, unlike metals, as a direct consequence of grain growth induced strain hardening.