World Tennis Magazine

Unique Tennis Perspectives

kaia

Vera Zvonareva’s Birthday Present: A Windy Trip to the Semifinals

by

NEW YORK – Vera Zvonareva celebrated her birthday by solving the winds as well Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi to move into the semifinals of the US Open for the first time on Wednesday.

Zvonareva, who turned 26 on Tuesday, didn’t mind waiting one more day for her present – a spot in the final four of America’s premier tennis tournament – that came with the hard-fought 6-3 7-5 win over Kanepi.

“The weather was definitely not for the good tennis out there,” Zvonareva said. “But no matter what, (the) match had to be played and we both were trying our best out there.

Vera Zvonareva

“The most important thing was to find the right balance between being patient and being aggressive. I think I did it well.”

Earlier this summer at Wimbledon, Zvonareva reached her first Grand Slam tournament final, beating Kim Clijsters en route to the title match where she lost to Serena Williams. She came into the US Open as the top-ranked Russian, in fact the only Russian ranked in the top 10.

Zvonareva had problems holding serve throughout the match. Kanepi, playing in the quarterfinals for the second straight major tournament, had an even harder time doing the same as the swirling winds bothered both players.

“It was blowing in every way,” Kanepi said. “It was tough. I just didn’t find the rhythm and the control of the ball.”

Still, she said she couldn’t put all the blame for her loss on the wind.

“I didn’t play as well, too,” she said. “Vera obviously played very well.”

Kanepi lost serve to begin the match, setting the stage for what turned out to be a plethora of service breaks. As would happen throughout the match, Kanepi, the first player from Estonia to reach a Grand Slam tournament quarterfinal, broke right back in a 10-point game.

After the two held to 2-2, Zvonareva broke Kanepi at 15 to take a 3-2 lead. When she broke her opponent in the ninth games, Zvonareva had captured the opening set.

But that also started a string of five consecutive games that saw the two lose serve. The second set started with Kanepi breaking from deuce. The Estonian gave the break right back, losing her serve at love, the final point coming when Kanepi sailed a backhand long.

No problem.

Kanepi took a 2-1 lead when Zvonareva self-destructed with four unforced errors. But it was a lead Kanepi seemed only too willing to give right back.

Hitting a flat ball with very little margin for error, Kanepi began having trouble finding the court inside the lines. It became contagious as both players won points on the other’s mistakes.

Back and forth they went, error after error. And when the 16-point game was completed, Zvonareva had yet another break and the two were back on serve.

But they weren’t through.

In the sixth game, Kanepi rolled out to a 40-0 lead, only to lose the next five points and her serve. Zvonareva helped her opponent make mistakes by hitting the ball down the middle, letting Kanepi lose the points.

The seventh game, like so many in the match in Arthur Ashe Stadium, went against the server. Three games later, Kanepi lost her serve at 15 and Zvonareva had a spot in the next round.

“I don’t think she was just making errors for no reasons, you know,” Zvonareva said. “I think I was making it difficult for her. She had to go more for her shots. I was trying to guess where she was playing and reading her game.

“So I was trying to make it as difficult as possible for her. With those conditions, well, unforced errors, it looks like it’s an easy shot. But with the wind going all the different directions and blowing, it’s not easy to make those shots.

“I think today I made right choices where I had just to put the ball in play and where sometimes I had to step up a little bit and do a little bit more with the ball.”

In the semifinals, Zvonareva will take on the winner of Wednesday night’s match between top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and surprising Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.

The other women’s singles semifinal pits defending champion Clijsters, who is seeded number two this year, against two-time US Open winner Venus Williams, who has not captured the year’s final Grand Slam tournament since 2001.and hasn’t been in the final since 2002.

MONDAYS WITH BOB GREENE: A SUMMARY OF THE FIRST WEEK OF WIMBLEDON

by

STARS


(Wimbledon – First Week)

John Isner won the longest-known match in tennis history, outlasting Nicolas Mahut 6-4 3-6 6-7 (7) 7-6 (3) 70-68

Vera Dushevina beat fifth-seeded Francesca Schiavone 6-7 (0) 7-5 6-1

Kaia Kanepi beat sixth-seeded Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-4

Daniel Brands beat seventh-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 1-6, 7-6 (5) 7-6 (8) 6-1

Fabio Fognini beat eighth-seeded Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (9) 6-2 6-7 (6) 6-4

Klara Zakopalova beat 10th-seeded Flavia Pennetta 6-2 6-3

Chris Eaton and Dominic Inglot beat top-seeded and defending doubles champions Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 7-5 5-7 7-6 (4) 6-7 (3) 8-6

SAYINGS

“You can’t even dream of something like this.” – John Isner, after winning the longest match in tennis history.

“I want to play, but I can’t see.” – Nicolas Mahut, when play was halted for the night because of darkness with the fifth set tied 59-59.

“We want more! We want more!” – Court 18 fans when play was halted at 59-59.

“Nothing like this will ever happen again. Ever.” – John Isner.
“[John is] a champion. He served unbelievable. Every time I was that close to breaking him he just served aces, aces, bombs. I could not do anything. I tried very hard, but he was just too good.” – Nicolas Mahut, after losing to John Isner.

“I walked on court at about 11-all in the fifth and now I’m off and they’re still going. This is absolutely amazing. In a way, I wish I was them, in some ways I wish I wasn’t them. This is a very special match. I hope somehow this is going to end.” – Roger Federer, talking about the middle day of the three-day match between Isner and Mahut.

“She said, `Oh, you’ve been coming here a long time.’ And I said, `Yes, 49 years in a row,’ and she goes, `Oh, that’s wonderful.’ … It was really an honor and a big thrill for me, because it is on my bucket list.” – Billie Jean King, relating her conversation with Queen Elizabeth.

“I live another day. This one is one I should have lost. That’s sometimes how grass-court tennis works.” – Roger Federer, after overcoming a two-set deficit on opening day to beat Alejandro Falla 5-7 4-6 6-4 7-6 (1) 6-0.

“I think about the lost opportunity. On the other hand, I played a great match. I had Federer against the ropes.” – Alejandro Falla.

“I played very well. Well, maybe not that well. “ – Michelle Larcher de Brito, after losing to Serena Williams 6-0 6-4

“It’s almost embarrassing to go out and play a Grand Slam match like that.: — James Blake, following his straight-set, first-round defeat.

SHELL-SHOCKED

It wasn’t a match for the record book – it WAS the record book. It took three days for John Isner to win his first-round match against Nicolas Mahut, and the only thing that stopped them was darkness. The match lasted 11 hours, 5 minutes, with the final set alone taking 8 hours, 11 minutes to play. Isner finally won 6-4 3-6 6-7 (7) 7-6 (3) 70-68. With thanks to the record-keepers at Wimbledon, the International Tennis Federation and the ATP Tour, the match made the following changes to the record book:

It was the longest-known match in tennis by a long shot. The second longest was 6 hours, 33 minutes when Fabrice Santoro beat Arnaud Clement in a first-round match at Roland Garros in 2004.

The 183 games obliterated the old singles match mark of 112 games when Pancho Gonzales defeated Charlie Pasarell in a first-round match at Wimbledon in 1969. The longest doubles match was 122 games in a 1973 Davis Cup tie between the United States and Chile.

In comparison, the fewest games played in seven matches to win a Grand Slam men’s singles title in the Open Era is 147, by Guillermo Vilas at the 1977 US Open.

The previous longest fifth set in a Grand Slam men’s singles match was 21-19 when Andy Roddick beat Younes El Aynoui in a 2003 Australian Open quarterfinal. The previous longest set in Grand Slam men’s singles was 25-23 when John Newcombe beat Marty Reissen in the 1969 US Open round of 16.

Mahut served 103 aces in the match – 10 fewer than Isner and the second-most in a match since the ATP began keeping records in 1991. The record prior to the Isner-Mahut match was 78 by Ivo Karlovic in a 2009 Davis Cup tie against the Czech Republic. Karlovic lost that match to Radek Stepanek.

That makes the record for combined aces in a match 216. The old mark was 96 set by Karlovic and Stepanek.

There were 168 consecutive service holds, and until the final game the last break of serve had been in the second game of the second set.

In a game between two big servers that had so many aces, it was remarkable that the last two points of the match came on winners – a forehand passing shot and a backhand down the line.

At the All England Club, the courtside electronic scoreboard got stuck at 47-47 when the score really was 48-48, then went dark entirely. When the two got to 50-50, the Wimbledon website’s live scoring feature began over at 0-0 with the notation to add 50 to each score. When Isner and Mahut returned to play on the third day, both the courtside scoreboard and the website’s live scoreboard had been re-programmed to display the correct score.

SITE SEEN

Queen Elizabeth II attended her first Wimbledon match in 33 years, applauding Briton Andy Murray’s victory on Centre Court and shaking hands with former and current champions. Among those who greeted the Queen were Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Serena and Venus Williams, Murray and Roger Federer. The last time the Queen had been at Wimbledon, she handed the women’s championship trophy to Great Britain’s own Virginia Wade. Murray is the only British player still left in the singles draws. Her visit was upstaged by John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, who were playing their fifth set the entire day without losing serve.

SHORT DAY

After playing and winning the longest match in tennis history, John Isner returned the next day for his second-round match as was eliminated in the shortest men’s match of this year’s tournament. Isner lost 6-0 6-3 6-2 to Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands in 74 minutes. “Right now, I just can’t wait to sit down on a couch for a prolonged period of time,” Isner said. “I spent a lot of hours on my feet the last three, four days. I just need to sit back and rest and let my body recoup.”

SHOCKED

Two-time defending champions Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic failed to make it past the second round in men’s doubles this year. The top-seeded pair lost to Great Britain’s Chris Eaton and Dominic Inglot 7-5 5-7 7-6 (4) 6-7 (3) 8-6. Canada’s Nestor and Serbia’s Zimonjic had won 13 straight matches at the All England club, winning the title in both 2008 and 2009.

SKIPPING THROUGH

Frenchman Gilles Simon didn’t have to hit a single ball to gain a third-round berth. That’s because his opponent, Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko, withdrew from the tournament with a right rotator cuff injury. Marchenko had a truncated first-round win when his opponent, Michael Berrer, quit after two sets.

SHIAVONE SHUFFLED OFF

The sun shines only briefly on tennis players. Italy’s Francesca Schiavone discovered that truth quickly. Fifteen days after she won her first Grand Slam tournament title at Roland Garros, she suffered a first-round loss on the grass at Wimbledon. A year ago, Schiavone was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon. This time, she was ushered out of the tournament by Russia’s Vera Dushevina. “Different surface, a different feeling,” Schiavone said. “I did not take my chances. It’s not easy on grass if you do not serve so good.” Dushevina wasn’t surprised that she won. “I had a plan,” she said. “Francesca is the French Open champion but I have been junior champion here and I know how to play on grass.”

SPITTING FINE

Victor Hanescu apologized for spitting at hecklers in his third-round match, but still is USD $15,000 poorer. The Romanian was fined USD $7,500 for unsportsmanlike conduct after swearing and splitting in the direction of hecklers in the crowd on Court 18. He was fined another USD $7,500 for not using “best efforts” at the conclusion of his match against Germany’s Daniel Brands. Hanescu foot-faulted and served a series of double faults in the final game of his match before retiring while trailing 0-3 in the fifth set. He had been issued a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct earlier in the set. “I lost my control briefly in the fifth set after another insult from someone in the crowd,” Hanescu said. “I should have never done that, but I am human and I made a mistake.”

SOLID CASE

A challenge from the German Tennis Federation has been rejected by a federal appeals court in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The three-judge panel of the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a 2008 federal jury verdict in Delaware rejecting the federation’s antitrust claims against the ATP for restructuring the tour’s schedule and demoting the clay court tournament in Hamburg, Germany, to second-tier status. The move eliminated Hamburg as a key warm-up for the French Open. The German federation and the Qatar Tennis Federation – which owns a stake in the Hamburg tournament – have not decided yet whether to try to take the case to the United States Supreme Court.

STAGE FRIGHT

Lindsay Davenport has won three Grand Slam singles titles and two doubles crowns, including Wimbledon in 1999. Yet she says returning to Wimbledon has given her a slight case of stage fright. “I’m a little nervous and stressed out,” Davenport admitted after her first mixed doubles match, which she and Bob Bryan won. “I was getting sick to my stomach before we went out there, like, ‘What are we doing?’ But I miss having a purpose at home on some days, so it was fun getting up to practice for this.” The tournament is Davenport’s first since the 2008 US Open. The 34-year-old mother of two is going to play only doubles at Wimbledon and two other tournaments in California. She said she will definitely not play the US Open, but has left open any other plans to play in other events.

SLAMMIN’ SISTERS

Serena and Venus Williams are seeking their fifth consecutive Grand Slam tournament women’s doubles championship and 13th overall. The two are seeded number one in doubles, while also seeded numbers one and two in the singles. Last year they met for the Wimbledon singles title, Serena wining the crown, then teamed up to win the doubles.

SWITCHING COACHES

Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka has ended his relationship with his coach, Dimitri Zavalioff, after working together since the start of Wawrinka’s career. “Thanks to him I have won the Roland Garros junior title, two ATP World Tour events and reached number nine in the ATP Rankings in 2008,” Wawrinka said. “He played a major role in my career and I am extremely grateful.” Wawrinka, who suffered at first-round loss at Wimbledon this year, has not named a new coach.

STEPPING UP

Yen-Hsun Lu is breaking new ground. He became the first Taiwanese man to reach the second week of a Grand Slam tournament when he bested Florian Mayer of Germany in a third-round match. Lu was leading 6-4 6-4 2-1 when Mayer retired injured. Lu had reached the third round of the 2009 Australian Open. Hsieh Su-Wei became the first Taiwanese woman to reach the fourth round of a major, that coming at the Australian Open in 2008.

STEPANEK HURT

The Czech Republic won’t have Radek Stepanek when it meets Chile in a Davis Cup World Group quarterfinal next month. The right-hander has been sidelined with a left knee injury. Czech Davis Cup captain Jaroslav Navratil picked Jan Hajek to join Tomas Berdych in the singles for the July 9-10 competition in Coquimbo, Chile. Completing the Czech team will be doubles specialists Lukas Dlouhy and Frantisek Cermak.

SEEKING TO BE BRITISH

Dustin Brown may have become the first Jamaican to play at Wimbledon in 40 years, but he wants to play Davis Cup for Great Britain. Brown, who has climbed more than 350 places in the rankings to 105, lost his first-round match to 16th-seeded Jurgen Melzer 6-3 4-6 6-2 6-3. He says he has fallen out with the Jamaican Tennis Federation and hopes to play for Britain. His Jamaican father has British roots, while his mother is German. “Something has to happen also from the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association),” Brown said. “If they are interested, then they have to step towards me.”

STARRING

Irina Falconi of Georgia Tech and Robert Farah of the University of Southern California have been named the 2010 Campbell/ITA National College Players of the Year in the United States. Farah is a senior from Cali, Colombia, and has been his team’s captain for three seasons, that include consecutive National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) team titles. Falconi is a sophomore from Jupiter, Florida, USA and has been ranked number one throughout the entire spring season.

STARTING SOMEWHERE

Opportunity Tournaments will be held in three Southern California locations with the winner of each event awarded a wild card into the qualifying draw of the Mercury Insurance Open, which begins July 31 in La Costa, California, USA. The Opportunity Tournaments are open to all interested female players and requires a USD $40 entry fee. The draw size for each event will be limited to 32 players and acceptances will be made according to Sony Ericsson WTA Tour ranking, college record and/or junior record. Among early entries into the Mercury Insurance Open are Samantha Stosur, Dinara Safina, Nadia Petrova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ana Ivanovic. Former two-time tournament champion Lindsay Davenport has accepted a wild card into the doubles where she will partner fellow American Liezel Huber.

SITES TO SURF

Wimbledon: www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/index.html

Braunschweig: www.nordlb-open.de/

Turin: www.sporting.to.it

Cuneo: www.countrycuneo.com

Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com

Bastad: http://women.swedishopen.org/

Budapest: www.gazdefrancegrandprix.com

Newport: www.tennisfame.com/

Pozoblanco: www.tennispozoblanco.com

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

ATP

Wimbledon, London, Great Britain, grass (second week)

$132,000 NORD/LB Open 2010, Braunschweig, Germany, clay

$105,000 Sporting Challenger, Turin, Italy, clay

WTA

Wimbledon, London, Great Britain, grass (second week)

$100,000 Cuneo 2010, Cuneo, Italy, clay

DAVIS CUP

Americas Zone Group IV, at Panama City, Panama, clay (round-robin with top two nations promoted to Americas Zone Group III): Barbados, Honduras, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago, US Virgin Islands

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

ATP

$442,500 Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, Rhode Island, USA, grass

$105,000 Open Diputacion Ciudad Pozoblanco, Pozoblanco, Spain, hard

WTA

$220,000 GDF SUEZ Grand Prix, Budapest, Hungary, clay

$220,000 Collector Swedish Open Women, Bastad, Sweden, clay

DAVIS CUP

World Group Quarterfinals

France vs. Spain at Clermont-Ferrand, France

Russia vs. Argentina at Moscow, Russia

Croatia vs. Serbia at Split, Croatia

Chile vs. Czech Republic at Coquimbo, Chile

Americans Zone Group II Second Round: Venezuela-Peru at Maracaibo, Venezuela; Paraguay-Mexico at Encarnacio, Paraguay

Americas Zone Group II Playoffs: Bolivia-El Salvador at Cochabamba, Bolivia; Guatemala-Netherlands Antilles at Guatemala City, Guatemala

Asia/Oceania Zone Group I First Round Playoffs: Chinese Taipei-Philippines at Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Korea-Uzbekistan at Gimcheon, South Korea

Asia/Oceania Zone Group II Second Round: Indonesia-Thailand at Jakarta, Indonesia; New Zealand-Pakistan at Taranaki, New Zealand

Asia/Oceania Zone Group II Playoffs: Malaysia-Pacific Oceania at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Sri Lanka-Hong Kong, China at Colombo, Sri Lanka

Europe/Africa Zone Group I First Round Playoffs: Belarus-Netherlands at Minsk, Belarus

Europe/Africa Zone Group II Second Round: Ireland-Lithuania at Dublin, Ireland; Slovenia-Bulgaria at Otocec, Slovenia; Cyprus-Portugal at Cruz Quebrada, Portugal; Bosnia and Herzegovina-Estonia at Tallinn, Estonia

Europe/Africa Zone Group II Playoffs: Turkey-Great Britain at Eastbourne, Great Britain; Norway-Monaco at Monte Carlo, Monaco; Egypt-Denmark at Cairo, Egypt; FYR Macedonia-Hungary at Godollo, Hungary