Tsvetana Pironkova defeats Venus Williams next up semi with Zvonareva : Wimbledon Tennis 2010
A major upset of Wimbledon took place on Tuesday, when Bulgarian number one Tsvetana Pironkova defeated second seed Venus Williams in the quarterfinals. The Bulgarian shocked the whole world with the win, and became the first Bulgarian player to qualify for the semi-finals of a Grand Slam. Pironkova won in straight sets against the five-time Wimbledon champion with the score of 6-2 and 6-3. Venus was shocked after her defeat to Pironkova and had no words to describe the loss.
Williams received two break points in the fifth game, but was still not able to overcome her opponent, and the Bulgarian broke twice to seal the first set to her name. She again broke Venus’ serve in the sixth game and soon ended the match. The 22 year old Bulgarian performed well throughout the match, whereas Venus, on the other hand, didn’t look to be in her usual performance mode. She missed a lot of the shots and made 29 errors in the entire game. Lot of double faults were also made by the American. After winning the match, Pironkova said that it was a dream come true for her. She said that she never thought she would play as well as she did, and actually surpass her second seeded opponent to reach the semis.
As the match started in Court One, Pironkova served game 1 with full confidence and left no chance for the second seed. Williams also faced trouble while serving her first service game but later got her grip in the game. The Bulgarian responded well to Williams’ backhand and forehand shots. It seemed as if the Bulgarian was well informed of Venus Williams' game-play and technique. Things started to change for the Bulgarian in the fifth game, when she double faulted and allowed Williams an opportunity to win the next point. She also grasped two break points in the same game. Pironkova led the first set 5-2, and at that time Williams looked in all kind of problems with her serve. However, Williams soon made a comeback in the game after she won three straight points and took the game to deuce. The Bulgarian ended Williams’ hope of winning the set after she played a forehand shot which the American missed, thus ending the set 6-2.
The second set seemed different than the first set, as Williams started to take an early control of the match. Williams broke Pironkova’s serve at the start and thus led the set 2-1. Pironkova, however, failed to let the American take further lead and showed extreme dominance in the match by winning the next two games and retaining the lead once again at 3-2. Williams again double-faulted in the sixth game and thus allowed the Bulgarian an advantage to hold a firm grip on the match. The Bulgarian received a break point which Williams was not able to break, and thus closed her chances to victory. With just two games left for Pironkova to win the match, the Bulgarian played the next games confidently and won the match in one hour and 25 minutes. Pironkova’s victory over the former World Champion is a great sign for the Bulgarian. Pironkova received lot of phone calls from her home country and everyone wished her good luck for her semi-final match at Wimbledon.
Venus was not on top of her game in the quarterfinal encounter, as she missed a lot of shots and also committed several mistakes while playing shots. Following the match, Williams said that she would concentrate on her mistakes and would try to overcome them. Tsvetana Pironkova will now compete against Russia’s Vera Zvonareva in the semi-finals. Zvonareva defeated Belgian Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals in a thrilling three-set encounter. Zvonareva, seeded 21 in the tournament, defeated her eighth seeded rival 3-6, 6-4, and 6-2.
Both Zvonareva and Pironkova have made it to semi-finals for the first time at Wimbledon.
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