2011 Sony Ericsson Open WTA Part 21: Tsvetana Pironkova and Klara Zakopalova
World Number 34 Tsvetana Pironkova
Tsvetana Pironkova is a Bulgarian tennis player, and is currently ranked World Number 34 by the Women’s Tennis Association. The right-handed pro is 23 years old, and has been part of the professional tour for almost ten years. She joined the WTA in 2002.
She has not won any career titles so far, and her highest ranking is World Number 31. She achieved this in 2010.
Pironkova’s first main draw appearance at Miami was in 2006, when she was ranked World Number 72. The player faced Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko in the first round, and could not make it past the unseeded player that year.
Her best showing at Miami was at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, when she was ranked World Number 117. The Bulgarian pro took part in the qualifying draw and received entry into the main draw, where she took on Great Britain’s Heather Watson in the first round.
Pironkova made it past her first-round opponent, but could not reproduce the same performance against second seed Caroline Wozniacki in the second round.
The 2011 Sony Ericsson Open marks Tsvetana Pironkova’s first time as a seeded player at Miami. She received a bye into the second round of the event, where she fell to unseeded player Lourdes Dominguez Lino in three sets.
World Number 36 Klara Zakopalova
Czech tennis pro Klara Zakopalova is currently 29 years old, making her one of the older Top 40 players on the Women’s Tennis Association. She is currently ranked World Number 36, and has been playing tennis in a professional capacity since 1999. The player
is right-handed, and has won two career titles so far. Her highest ranking is World Number 27, which she reached in 2006.
Zakopalova’s first appearance in the main draw of the Sony Ericsson Open was in 2003, when she was ranked World Number 69. She dropped her opening match against Spanish tennis pro Marta Marrero in three sets, losing the last one without a single game on
her side.
The Czech player’s best performance at the tournament was in 2006, when she was seeded twenty-seventh. She received a bye in the first round, and went on to defeat Italian tennis pro Tathiana Garbin in the next round. Zakopalova fell in the third round to
American tennis player Jill Craybas, who defeated her in straight sets.
This year, Klara Zakopalova was the last seed at the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open. She matched her 2006 performance, advancing directly to the second round to defeat Britain’s Number 1 Elena Baltacha before sixth seed Jelena Jankovic ousted her in the third round.
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