Wimbledon 2010: Preview Of The Ladies Semi-finals
Spectators and Wimbledon fans have been exposed to nine days of spectacular tennis at the All England Club in SW19. Many household names have been shown the door and many shining stars have come to the fore. The time has come in the Championships where only four women are left in the draw to battle it out for a place in the top two.
Day Ten at the Championships will feature four strong women who have worked their way up the ladder and tackled adversaries on the way to make it this far. This year the semi-finals will feature three relatively unknown names in the game, auguring a change of tide. However, standing between them is the defending champion Serena Williams, who will be looking to maintain her supremacy. But looking at the past ten days and the surprises that have taken the spotlight at Wimbledon this year, it could still very much be anybody's game.
Tsvetana Pironkova has the honor of becoming the first Bulgarian woman to reach the semifinals of Wimbledon, but will she grab the accolades for the first Bulgarian woman to reach the finals? She will meet the number twenty one seed Vera Zvonareva who conquered Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals. It is a great feat for Pironkova to have reached the semifinals, as she only started playing on grass a mere five years ago. She has had a dream run in the tournament so far as she beat five time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the quarterfinals. Pironkova has never been past round two and Wimbledon and this year she will be looking to turn the pages of history.
Zvonareva on the other hand has had more grass court experience than her opponent. She knows how to handle pressure at this stage of the tournament, as she reached the Australian Open semifinal last year. She also has a grass court title under her belt as she won in Birmingham in 2006. Even though she has not won a major singles grand slam, she has won a doubles grand slam thrice before. Thus, her past experience may give her a slight edge over her opponent when they come out to play.
However, Pironkova has history and confidence on her side, as they played against each other in Moscow last year and Pironkova won that encounter with ease. She will be looking to capitalize on that win. With the stakes being higher this time around, both players will be playing the best tennis of their career to reach the finals of a singles grand slam for the first time in their life.
In the other women's semifinal, defending champion Serena Williams will be looking to avoid the fate of the men's defending champion Roger Federer. Her opponent Petra Kvitova has brushed past seeds like Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka and Zheng Jie, but Serena will be a different ball game altogether. Serena has bought out the big guns this tournament, making use of all her ammunition. Her serve has been her biggest asset which is likely to trouble the twenty year old. Kvitova's serve however can work to her disadvantage in this match. Being a left-hander, her serve is likely to meet Serena's backhand, which is her strong point. Once the ball connects, it would be very difficult for Kvitova to keep up with the younger William sister.
Serena has held her serve in the entire tournament with ease as she has won 156 out of the 175 points she has played on her first serve. This is the highest number of points won amongst all four contenders. This coupled with the sheer strength of her ground strokes will make her a tough opponent to get past. Serena will be looking to blitz past Kvitova with ease and come out on Center Court on Saturday to defend her title.
It will be a historic afternoon at the All England Club as the minnows of the game look to etch their name in the tennis circuit. They will be alerting the rest of the players as to the arrival of a new breed of stars.
Tags: