Zvonareva eliminates Clijsters in another huge upset
Vera Zvonareva of Russia defeated U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters in the ladies’ singles quarter finals at Wimbledon on Tuesday, eliminating the American from her bid for the Wimbledon trophy at the All England Club.
The 21st-seeded Zvonareva came up from being a set down to claim a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory on her second match point after the no. 8 seeded Clijsters sent a forehand into the net. Zvonareva beat Clijsters for the first time in six meetings between the women, advancing to her second semi-final in a Grand Slam, following her efforts at the Australian Open last year.
Clijsters loses her cool
Clijsters, the current US Open champion, started off well by winning the first set, following her break of Zvonareva in game eight, when the Russian let out two forehand errors as well as a double-fault. The Belgian was then able to finish off the set comfortably. However, Clijsters eventually lost composure of her game, falling apart in the closing two sets of the match.
Zvonareva broke the Belgian star four times in the last two sets, securing a spot for herself in her first Wimbledon tournament semifinal.
The 25-year-old Zvonareva is now set to face the unseeded Tsvetana Pironkova, who produced the other big upset of the day, by shocking five-time champion Venus Williams in their quarter final match on Tuesday on Court One.
Although Zvonareva is not known for her grass-court expertise, she refused to be discouraged by an early setback, taking the second set just as unforced errors started making their way into Clijsters' game.
Zvonareva takes advantage of Clijster’s game
Clijsters was broken twice throughout the match, first in the fourth game of the second set, and once again in the tenth game. This left the match level at one-set all, with it being clear that Zvonareva was playing the better game of the two women.
Zvonareva went in for the kill during her attempts to break Clijsters. The Russian was able to capitalize on her break point opportunities, and followed them up by serving out the match.
Not only was this a tremendous upset for Clijsters, but the defeat will be even tougher to swallow as the Belgian had her hopes set on continuing her illustrious comeback streak by winning the elusive Wimbledon trophy.
As this was Clijsters' first appearance at the Wimbledon Championships since 2006, the Belgian was quite confident that she would at least beat her previous best performance at the All England Club, which occurred when she made it to the last four already four years ago.
Clijsters succumbs to nerves
In what was a typical Clijsters-style defeat, the Belgian gave way to anxiety, rushing her shots more as her chances got slimmer and slimmer. Although Zvonareva is hardly known for her mental fortitude on court, she was nevertheless able to maintain steadiness and mental focus, continuing to control most of the points.
Clijsters had been victorious during all five of their previous meetings, which included two matches on grass. Prior to the Tuesday match, the two women had not played each other since 2006, with Clijsters’ retirement being one factor in their lack of mutual on-court time.
Zvonareva previously made the final four at the 2009 Australian Open, with her effort at Wimbledon this year being her second career semifinal at a Grand Slam.
Zvonareva will be the underdog in her upcoming match against Pironkova in the semifinal, but she should have a relatively easy time setting pace against Pironkova’s returns.
The Zvonareva vs Pironkova match will be an intriguing game to witness, as no one was betting for either of the women to end up this far along at Wimbledon in 2010, especially facing the toughest of opponents in the ladies’ draws.
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