Vera Zvonareva gearing up for the Flushing Meadows – Tennis Special
Former world number two, Vera Zvonareva, is seeking her rhythm for the US Open, last of the four Grand Slam events taking place in Queens, New York City. She hasn’t had much success this season due to injuries but managed to capture
her second Grand Slam doubles title at the Australian Open.
After displaying dismal performance in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Championships in Istanbul last year, Zvonareva started her campaign standing at number seven in the WTA Premier Rankings.
She fell in the opening round at the Apia International Sydney (lost to her fellow citizen Svetlana Kuznetsova) but re-focused her strategy at the Melbourne Grand Slam event. She battled past Romania’s Alexandra Cadantu in a three-set
thriller and crippled Czech Republic’s Lucie Hradecka with a breadstick before secure a third round berth. She bowed out to Ekaterina Makarova in gruelling straight sets but grabbed her maiden year-to-date doubles title at this major hard court tournament
(partnered with Kuznetsova).
"We started going for our shots a little bit more, taking more risks sometimes even though we had some more unforced errors," the jubilant Zvonareva was quoted in a post match press conference. "It worked better for us in the second
and third sets than it did in the first set."
She carried her spark at the Pattaya Open in Thailand and cruised into the final eight without losing a set. Zvonareva eased past Varvara Lepchenko and Akgul Amanmuradova in straight sets before pulling out from the tournament
due to a left-hip injury during her match against Sorana Cirstea.
The 27-year-old tried to make a comeback at the Qatar Ladies Open in Doha but was forced to retire in her opening match against Romania’s Monica Niculescu. As a result, Zvonareva also withdrew from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
After falling to ninth spot in the WTA rankings, Zvonareva made a fitting comeback at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. She dumped the Japanese veteran, Kimiko Date Krumm, in straight sets but was forced to pull out from the
tournament due to illness prior to her second round match against Klara Zakopalova.
In the following week, the gorgeous Russian crashed out to a local wildcard entrant, Garbine Muguruza Blanco, in her opening match at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
The Moscow native re-kindled her spark at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston and devastated Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko with double breadsticks in her opening match. She then battled past Stefanie Voegele in three sets before
exiting to Lucie Safarova in the quarter-finals.
The poor Russian missed the Stuttgart WTA event due to shoulder injury before trying to comeback at the Mutua Madrid Open. She bowed out to Petra Cetkovska in her opening match from this WTA Premier event. Adding further to her
misery, Zvonareva was forced to pull out form the Internazionali BNL D’Italia, Roland Garros and AEGON International due to right shoulder injury.
The Russian re-focused her energy and made a comeback at the Wimbledon Championships. She triumphed over Mona Barthel and Silvia Soler Espinosa before retiring from her third round match against Kim Clijsters. She withdrew from
this Grand Slam event due to upper respiratory illness.
However, she made a stunning comeback at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club for the London Olympics. The Russian impressively conquered Sofia Arvidsson and Francesca Schiavone before bowing out to the Wimbledon Champion,
Serena Williams, with a bagel in pre-quarters.
“She's always focused and she's always there to fight and I don't expect anything else from her," Zvonareva commented after losing her match against the former world number one, Williams. "I'm disappointed but I really did the
best I could out there. Serena's just a great champion."
Currently ranked 13 in the WTA rankings, Zvonareva is looking forward to re-gain her strength at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Corona Park. She reached the final showdown at the US Open two years ago and is
eyeing for her maiden career Grand Slam title here. However, she needs to hammer more winners and reduce her unforced count in order to achieve her goal.
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