Zvonareva, Pironkova, Kvitorva impress at Wimbledon
Czech Petra Kvitova, unseeded at the Championship, secured a place in the semi-finals at Wimbledon after beating 80th-ranked qualifier Kaia Kanepi of Estonia with a score of 4-6 7-6 8-6 on Tuesday.
Kvitova, the No 62 in the world, started off rough when the Estonian let go of three match points in the second set tiebreak. Kanepi then took a 4-0 lead in the deciding game. Kvitova had never previously won a match at Wimbledon, and managed to save five match points.
Kvitova kept her concentration, and broke in the 13th game before serving out to love following two hours and 39 minutes of play.
She will face defending champion Serena Williams in the semi-final match.
Zvonareva clips Clijsters’ title bid
Having beaten Kim Clijsters, the reigning US Open champion in the quarter-finals, Vera Zvonareva is looking ahead to her unlikely meeting in the semifinals against Tsvetana Pironkova, with the aim of not making the same mistake as Venus Williams.
Zvonareva will surely avoid a shock defeat to Pironkova, the world number 82, which Venus endured in their quarter-final face-off.
Zvonareva has defeated Pironkova during their last meeting, and will hope to repeat that performance, especially since a win would guarantee her a place in the Wimbledon final.
Recalling their last match, Zvonareva said: "I played her in Moscow last year and I lost to her. She's an all-over-the-court player. It's hard to predict what she will do. Sometimes she can slice; sometimes she can hit the ball; sometimes she can play slow; sometimes fast. You never know what to expect, so you lose your rhythm. Then you start thinking too much. I know I will have to concentrate on myself and execute my game no matter what the score, no matter what she's trying to do."
Pironkova pries into top four
Going into the semi-finals seems to be an unlikely place for Pironkova. Yet no one would have bet their trusty pound on her astounding win over Venus Williams. Pironkova blasted out of nowhere to steal Venus’ chance to face her sister Serena in the final once again. Zvonareva is aware that taking Pironkova too lightly may not be the best approach at this point.
"I will try to remember that match. Obviously Venus will always be one of the favourites at Wimbledon but if Tsvetana [Pironkova] beat her today, she deserves to be in the semi-finals. She played great tennis,” Zvonareva admitted.
Currently ranked at world No 21, Zvonareva will move to 11 after making the semi-final. She held the No.5 spot in February 2009, but her season was shortened due to an ankle injury and resulting surgery.
However, she now has a tangible opportunity at a Wimbledon finals appearance, of which she has said: "I always believe in myself and believe I can be here. But when you go through a lot of injuries in your career, it puts a lot of doubts in your head. It is very difficult to come back. You lose a lot of confidence. I always believed I could do it. I was just frustrated that my injuries were not going away. But I knew it was just a matter of time, because I can work hard every day. I believe that if you do that, you will achieve."
Zvonareva proved her words with her victory over Clijsters, beating the Belgian for the first time in six matches.
"I played one point at a time," she explained. "I kept my concentration from the beginning to the end. I'm much more mature now. I played tactically better. Even after I lost the first set, there were a couple of unforced errors that could have put me back, but I was trying not to think about that. I was thinking about what to do next to win the next point."
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