Yaroslava Shvedova stuns French Open finalist, Sara Errani, in third round – Wimbledon 2012
24-year-old Kazakh contender, Yaroslava Shvedova, continued with her sublime run of form this season and registered another upset to clear the third round of the Wimbledon Championships on Saturday. The 65th ranked outplayed this year’s French Open finalist, Sara Errani, in a cracking two-setter, 6-0, 6-4, to reach the round of 16 at the grass court Grand Slam event in London, England.
It was more than just a third round victory for the Kazakh, as she became the first women in the Open Era to register a Golden Set in a match. Shvedova won every single point in the opening set of the contest in barely 15 minutes to bag a Golden Set at 6-0 against Errani. It was something no other women tennis professional has ever performed in the history of the sport and no one could have expected Shvedova to perform such incredible feat against the world number 10, Errani.
"I only realized after the match in the gym when my coach told me. I didn't believe him - I thought it must be a mistake," jubilant Shvedova said afterwards about the landmark she achieved. "I wasn't concentrating on the statistics during the match, I was just playing point by point. I was just thinking that I played a good set. I'm the first woman to make a golden egg!"
Earning a wildcard to the main draw of the Grand Slam, Shvedova beat all the odds to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon in the current edition. She wasn’t rated an underdog in the matchup against the 10th seed Errani, as she has already beaten the Italian in the last two encounters. Errani had suffered crushing defeats at the hands of the Kazakh in 2010 French Open and then again in the last year’s Miami Masters. Her Saturday’s loss pushed her to a 1-3 deficit in the head-to-head record against the inferior ranked rival and also ended her voyage at the All England Tennis and Croquet Club in London.
Shvedova started off the proceedings in grand fashion, launching an all-round onslaught upon the 10th seeded Italian. She broke her opponent’s serve three times on the trot and clinched all the 24 points successively to bag the golden set in 15 minutes. Errani posed some resistance in the following set but couldn’t restrain Shvedova from claiming victory at 6-4.
The Kazakh wildcard will next face the former Wimbledon Champion, Serena Williams, in the fourth round battle.
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