Vera Zvonareva ousted by qualifier in San Diego
In what is perhaps the upset of the tournament so far, third seed Vera Zvonareva has been defeated by qualifier Coco Vandeweghe in the second round of the Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego.
The teenaged Vandeweghe fought back from a one-set deficit to claim victory over the Wimbledon runner-up 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 and with it her first victory over a top-10 player.
The next challenge for the world No. 205 will be a quarter-final match against Svetlana Kuznetsova, with the world No. 21 clinching victory over a determined Sara Errani in her second-round match. Kuznetsova looked to be on track for a straightforward victory when leading 5-3 in the second set, but the Italian rallied to win the set in a tiebreak before the Russian held on for a 6-1, 6-7(5), 7-5 win.
Joining Kuznetsova on Thursday’s winners list was Daniela Hantuchova, who cruised past Zheng Jie to take a 6-2, 6-1 victory and line up a quarter-final against Alisa Kleybanova.
Flavia Pennetta also had a successful second round, the fifth seed defeating Maria Kirilenko in straight sets and will now take on second seed Sam Stosur in her quarter-final match.
World No. 5 Stosur may be the highest remaining seed in San Diego after top seed Jelena Jankovic fell in the second round, but Pennetta shapes as a difficult opponent for the Australian, the world No. 15 having won both their past matches: in the final in Los Angeles last year and in the round of 32 in Sydney this January.
While Pennetta will therefore take an unbeaten record into that match, it might be worth noting the victory in LA came before Stosur had worked out how to win a WTA Tour singles final (she’s now won two) and the Sydney victory came as Stosur struggled to cope with the expectations that came with a ranking that was at the time heading towards the top 10.
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