Wimbledon 2010: Women’s quarterfinals prove to be too tough for the seeds
When the day began, there were three top seeds out of the final eight women left in the tournament, but as the sunset only one survived. Wimbledon 2010 has been full of surprises and the women’ quarterfinals did not disappoint. Pundits predicted this year’s final to be a repeat of last year’s .i.e. a meeting between the Williams sisters. However that is now far from reality. Faces that were unknown before the onset of Wimbledon have caused major upsets and now carved a name for themselves in the tennis circles. It has been a long winding road for some players but their efforts are now finally bearing fruit.
The proceedings were opened on Center Court by Belgian comeback queen Kim Clijsters. Clijsters had overcome her Belgian compatriot Justine Henin in the fourth round and was looking to book her place in the semifinals after a gap of four years. Her opponent was Vera Zvonareva from Russia. Both players had met five times before and Clijsters was victorious in all the matches. Clijsters was hoping to repeat her performance in the quarterfinals as well but little did she know what surprises awaited her.
The eighth seed Clijsters started off well, taking the first set 6-3. This time around Clijsters forehand did the job for her unlike her previous match. She forced a break point at four games all, and then took the set on her own service game. But in the second set it seemed as if fortune swung in the Russian’s favor. It was not just luck on her side but also the errors coming out of Clijsters racquet. Her inconsistency was very evident in the second set.
Zvonareva fought hard in the second set, not letting Clijsters settle down. And then two untimely double faults and two loose shots handed Zvonareva the second set on a silver platter. Pressure mounted on the ladies as they went into set three. Clijsters serve came under major pressure in her first service game of the third set. Zvonareva took advantage of the fact that Clijsters was struggling and quickly went up 5-3. The Russian was serving for the match when Clijsters saved one match point, but that was just delaying the inevitable. Clijsters lost the third set at 6-3 and with it her fairytale run came to a surprising end.
Under the watchful eye of former Wimbledon champion Yvonne Goolagong and former British Prime Minister John Major, Serena Williams walked out next on Center court. Knowing very well the shock defeat of Clijsters earlier, Serena gave it her all against Li Na. Serena Williams had not dropped a set in the tournament so far and she intended to keep it that way. Li Na rallied Serena for the first forty minutes, keeping up to speed with her. Then a few errors and an untimely double fault from Li Na handed Serena the much needed break. Li Na was 40-0 up when her game cracked and she lost. Pumping her fist in the air, Serena took the first set 7-5 on her serve. Twenty minutes into the second set Li Na gifted yet another service game to Williams. Serena who is in impeccable form did not fail to capitalize and went on to win the set 6-3 and with it secured a place for herself in the semifinals.
Older sister Venus Williams was out on Court One trying to avenge her Australian Open 2008 defeat at the hands of Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova. Pironkova who had earlier defeated Marion Bartoli to reach the quarterfinals provided the spectators with the biggest shock of the tournament. She repeated her Australian Open magic and showed Williams the door 6-2, 6-3.
The girl from Bulgaria (where no grass courts exist) proved to the world her run in Wimbledon 2010 was not just a fluke. The Bulgarian was confident and aggressive from the outset and did not let nerves come between her and her performance. Williams seemed to be struggling throughout the match and could not keep up with Pironkova’s pace. With this win Pironkova becomes the first Bulgarian woman to reach the semifinals of Wimbledon.
The final match of the quarters was between two unknown faces who have beaten some top seeds en-route. Estonian Kaia Kanepi faced off against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic. It was their first ever appearance at the quarterfinal of a major grand slam and both wanting to make their presence felt. It was a battle between the unknown’s but it was a thrilling match nonetheless.
Both players had match points but only one was able to convert it. Kvitova lost the first set 6-4 but then came from behind to win the second in a tie break. The third set proved to be a nail biting experience. Each player wanted to reach the finish line. Kanepi had five match points in the final sets but Kvitova was not giving up. She finally took the set 8-6. Wanting to live up to the legacy of her predecessor Martina Navratilova, Kvitova will be looking to continue her dream run into the semifinals.
With such shocks coming out of the women’s quarterfinals, it could either be Serena Williams silver plate yet again, or another woman will step up to make history.
Tags: