•
Zvonareva is bidding for her first career Grand Slam
title; in the Open Era, 5 players have won their
first career Grand Slam at Wimbledon – Martina
Navratilova (1978), Conchita Martinez (1994), Jana
Novotna (1998), Venus Williams (2000) and Maria
Sharapova (2004)
•
Zvonareva is the first Russian woman to advance to
the final of a Grand Slam since 2009 Roland Garros
(Kuznetsova d. Safina); this gap of 5 Slams is the
biggest gap between GS final appearances by Russian
woman since 2004 US Open to 2006 Roland Garros.
•
Zvonareva is the 3rd Russian woman to reach the final
at Wimbledon after Olga Morozova (1974 runner-up) and
Maria Sharapova (2004, winner)
•
Zvonareva is the 2nd lowest-ranked Wimbledon finalist
(behind No.31 V.Williams, winner 2007)
•
Zvonareva is 1-5 vs. S.Williams; her lone win came in
SF at 2006 Cincinnati; this is their first meeting
since 2008 Charleston final, which is also their only
previous final meeting (Williams won 64 36 63)
•
Zvonareva has played only 1 tie-break this year (QF
at Pattaya City, d. Bammer 60 76(5)); only one player
ranked in the Top 50 has played fewer tie-breakers
this year (Lisicki, who has only played 9 matches,
due to injury)
•
Zvonareva has advanced to her first Grand Slam final
on her 30th GS appearances; only Garrison (34),
Schiavone (39) and Tauziat (42) played more GS before
reaching first final; both Garrison and Tauziat
reached first (and only) final at Wimbledon
•
Furthermore, Zvonareva is bidding for her first
career Grand Slam title on her 30th appearance; only
3 women in the Open Era made 30 or more GS
appearances before winning their first title: Amelie
Mauresmo,32 appearances ,2006 Australian Open
-Francesca Schiavone, 39 appearances, 2010 Roland
Garros - Jana Novotna, 45 appearances, 1998
Wimbledon.
•
Zvonareva is 2-4 against reigning world No.1s –
d. Sharapova (2007 Indian Wells) and d. Jankovic
(2008 Tour Championships); her match vs. Jankovic was
her most recent match vs. a current No.1; both wins
vs. the reigning No.1 were in 3 sets
•
By reaching the final, Zvonareva will return to the
Top 10 (at No.9) and would climb to No.7 if she wins
the title; she reached a career-high of No.5
(February 2009)
Grand
Slam Singles Finalists Ranked Outside Top 20
Vera
Zvonareva (No.21) becomes the 16th woman ranked
outside the Top 20 to advance to a Grand Slam final.
Since the introduction of the computer ranking system
(November 1975), 6 players ranked outside the Top 20
have won a Grand Slam singles title, 2 of those
players were unranked (Clijsters, Goolagong).
LOWEST-RANKED
GRAND SLAM FINALISTS * (CHAMPIONS IN BOLD)
PLAYER RANK GRAND SLAM
EVONNE
GOOLAGONG** NR 1977 AUSTRALIAN OPEN [DEC.] WON
KIM
CLIJSTERS* NR 2009 US OPEN WON
Justine
Henin NR 2010 Australian Open Runner-Up
CHRIS
O'NEIL NO.111 1978 AUSTRALIAN OPEN WON
SERENA
WILLIAMS NO.81 2007 AUSTRALIAN OPEN WON
Betsy
Nagelsen No.78 1978 Australian Open Runner-Up
Venus
Williams No.66 1997 US Open Runner-Up
BARBARA
JORDAN NO.68 1979 AUSTRALIAN OPEN WON
Sharon
Walsh No.54 1979 Australian Open Runner-Up
Renata
Tomanova No.44 1976 Australian Open Runner-Up
Mima
Jausovec No.48 1983 Roland Garros Runner-Up
Helen
Gourlay-Cawley No.33 1977 Australian Open [Dec.]
Runner-Up
VENUS
WILLIAMS NO.31 2007 WIMBLEDON WON
Amelie
Mauresmo No.29 1999 Australian Open Runner-Up
Mary
Pierce No.22 1997 Australian Open Runner-Up
Vera
Zvonareva No.21 2010 Wimbledon ??
*
Unranked due to retirement from game l ** Unranked
due to the birth of her first daughter, Kelly, in May
1977
NOTE:
since the inception of computer rankings (November
1975) l BOLD denotes GS Champion
Vera
Zvonareva is vying to become the 38th woman in Open
Era tennis history to win a Grand Slam singles title.
In the Open Era (1968 Roland Garros onwards), 37
women have won at least 1 Grand Slam title. Many
winners have often referred to their first Grand Slam
title as the most special championship of their
career – 22 of the 37 winners have won multiple
Grand Slam singles titles. The most popular
tournament to win a first Grand Slam title has been
the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris where 14 of the
37 Open Era Grand Slam winners have been crowned as
first-time champions.
PLAYER - AGE, YRS, MOS - FIRST GRAND
SLAM TITLE - TOTAL OPEN ERA, GS TITLES (SGL)
Austin,
Tracy (USA) 16,9 1979 US Open 2
Barker,
Sue (GBR) 20,2 1976 Roland Garros 1
Capriati,
Jennifer (USA) 24,10 2001 Australian Open 3
*Court,
Margaret (AUS) 26,6 1969 Australian Open 11
Clijsters,
Kim (BEL) 22,2 2005 US Open 2
Davenport,
Lindsay (USA) 22,3 1998 US Open 3
Evert,
Chris (USA) 19,6 1974 Roland Garros 18
Goolagong
Cawley, Evonne (AUS) 19,10 1971 Roland Garros 7
Graf,
Steffi (GER) 17,11 1987 Roland Garros 22
Henin,
Justine (BEL) 21,0 2003 Roland Garros 7
Hingis,
Martina (SUI) 16,4 1997 Australian Open 5
Ivanovic,
Ana (SRB) 20,7 2008 Roland Garros 1
Jausovec,
Mima (YUG) 20,1 1977 Roland Garros 1
**Jones,
Ann (GBR) 30,9 1969 Wimbledon 1
Jordan,
Barbara (USA) 22,8 1979 Australian Open 1
***King,
Billie Jean (USA) 24,8 1968 Wimbledon 8
Kuznetsova,
Svetlana (RUS) 19,2 2004 US Open 2
Majoli,
Iva (CRO) 19,10 1997 Roland Garros 1
Mandlikova,
Hana (TCH/AUS) 18,10 1980 Australian Open 4
Martínez,
Conchita (ESP) 22,3 1994 Wimbledon 1
Mauresmo,
Amelie (FRA) 26,6 2006 Australian Open 2
Myskina,
Anastasia (RUS) 22,11 2004 Roland Garros 1
Navratilova,
Martina (TCH/USA) 21,9 1978 Wimbledon 18
Novotna,
Jana (CZE) 29,9 1998 Wimbledon 1
O'Neil,
Christine (AUS) 22,9 1978 Australian Open 1
Pierce,
Mary (FRA) 20,0 1995 Australian Open 2
Melville-Reid,
Kerry (AUS) 29,4 1976 Australian Open 1
****Richey-Gunter,
Nancy (USA) 25,10 1968 Roland Garros 1
Ruzici,
Virginia (ROM) 23,4 1978 Roland Garros 1
Sabatini,
Gabriela (ARG) 20,4 1990 US Open 1
Sanchez-Vicario,
Arantxa (ESP) 17,6 1989 Roland Garros 4
Schiavone,
Francesca (ITA) 29, 11 2010 Roland Garros 1
Seles,
Monica (YUG/USA) 16,6 1990 Roland Garros 9
Sharapova,
Maria (RUS) 17,2 2004 Wimbledon 3
Wade,
Virginia (GBR) 23,2 1968 US Open 3
Williams,
Serena (USA) 17,11 1999 US Open 12
Williams,
Venus (USA) 20,0 2000 Wimbledon 7
* Court
won her first Grand Slam title at 1960 Australian
Championships aged 17 years, 6 months, and followed
with 12 more titles between 1960 and 1966
**
Jones won two pre-Open Era Grand Slam titles: her
first at 1961 French Championships, aged 22 years, 8
months and a 2nd at the French again in 1966
***
King won 4 titles prior to the Open Era: (Wimbledon
1966-67, US Open 1967 and the 1968 Australian
Championships); King was aged 22 years, 8 months at
the time of her first GS win at Wimbledon 1966
****
Richey won 1967 Australian Open (aged 24 years, 4
months) and the 1968 French Open - the first Grand
Slam tournament of the Open Era
Vera will face
Serena Williams in the final
