Vera Zvonareva upsets Caroline Wozniacki to win Qatar Ladies Open - WTA update
Second seeded Russian, Vera Zvonareva, defeated the top seeded Dane, Caroline Wozniacki, in straight sets to win the Qatar Ladies Open on Saturday.
The world number three, Zvonareva, had won eight out of her last 10 matches. She reached the semi-finals of Australian Open Grand Slam where she lost to the eventual champion, Kim Clijsters. She also reached the semi-finals at the Pattaya Open. She entered
this tournament confidently and ranked the second seed, she moved directly to the second round. The Russian overpowered Slovakians, Dominika Cibulkova and Daniela Hantuchova, in the second round and the quarter-finals respectively. In the semi-finals she defeated
fifth seeded Serbian, Jelena Jankovic, to reach this spot.
Whereas the world number one, Caroline Wozniacki, won the Dubai Womens Tennis Association (WTA) title before entering this tournament. She had won 90 percent of her last ten matches and overwhelmed the Russian, Nadia Petrova, the Italian, Flavia Pennetta,
and the French, Marion Bartoli, in straight sets in the previous rounds.
Zvonareva after winning this match against Wozniacki has levelled their head to head rivalry with Wozniacki by 4-4.
Both players started the match in top form but the Russian took the lead 2-1 by breaking Wozniacki’s serve in the third game. Later she held her remaining serves to clinch the opening set by 6-4. The Russian had an almost equal first serve percentage of
58 per cent. She also had a lower 63 per cent win on it as compared to Wozniacki’s 81 percent. However through her amazing attacking skills she won the set convincingly.
In the second set, both stars displayed an awe-inspiring game of tennis and through their magnificent play they held their crucial serves. The furious world number one lost her key serve break as Zvonareva took herself to a 4-2 lead. The higher ranked Dane
saved break points six times and broke Zvonareva’s serve once but it wasn’t enough to hold Zvonareva back. The in-form Russian hammered two aces and although she had a lower first serve percentage of 66 per cent in contrast with the Dane’s 78 per cent but
Zvonareva earned an impressive 65 per cent wins on it.
"This is definitely a special moment for me, especially after that tough match against Daniela (Hantuchova) and another great one against Jelena (Jankovic)," said the happy Zvonareva. Overall the Russian clobbered 30 winners to win her 11th WTA
title by a score line of 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 49 minutes.
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