LADYDRAGON.COM  - HOME

Home

Other News

 

Bookmark and Share Bookmark and Share Bookmark and Share

 

Friday July 02, 2010

 

Serena Williams(USA #1) vs. Vera Zvonareva (RUS #21) match preview final

Wimbledon 2010

By LadyDragon

WIMBLEDON, United Kingdom --(LadyDragon) 02/07/10--Making 11th appearance at Wimbledon; 3-time champion, having won back-to-back-titles in 2002 and 2003 (l. V.Williams in final, both times) and winner again in 2009 (as No.2 seed, d. No.4 seed Dementieva 67(4) 75 86 in SF, saving mp down 5-4 third set; d. No.3 seed V.Williams in final); also twice runner-up, in 2004 (as No.1 seed, l. No.13 seed Sharapova) and 2008 (as No.6 seed, l. No.7 seed V.Williams); reached SF in 2000 (as No.8 seed, l. No.5 seed V.Williams); two-time QF, in 2001 (as No.5 seed, l. No.4 seed Capriati) and 2007 (as No.7 seed, l. No.1 seed Henin in 3s); reached 3r on debut in 1998 (ret. vs.Ruano Pascual) and also in 2005 (as No.4 seed, l. Craybas); missed Wimbledon in 1999 due to flu and in 2006 due to left knee injury; also 4-time doubles champion, all w/V.Williams (2000,2002, 2008, 2009)

Serena Williams

2010 HIGHLIGHTS: WON (1):

Australian Open; R-Up (1): Sydney; SF (1): Rome; won 3 doubles titles (Australian Open, Madrid, Roland Garros)

• Won 12th Grand Slam title at Australian Open (as No.1 seed, d. No.7 Azarenka in QF 46 76 62 (trailed 0-4 in 2nd set), No.16 Li in SF and WC Henin in F); also won 11th Grand Slam doubles title w/V.Williams

• Reached 49th Tour final of career at Sydney (l. Dementieva 63 62)

• Rome (May) marked first tournament played since Australian Open triumph, due to left knee injury; reached SF at Rome (as top seed, l. No.7 seed Jankovic 46 64 76(5), having held mp at 5-4 in third set)

• QF at Roland Garros (as top seed, l. No.7 seed Stosur in 3s; held mp at 5-4 in 3s); won 12th GS doubles title (w/Venus)

• Reached 3r at Madrid (as top seed, l. Petrova in 3s; d. Dushevina in 2r match lasting 3h 27 (the longest match of her career in terms of time); won 19th career doubles title at Madrid (w/Venus)

• After Roland Garros, became the 6th woman in Tour history to hold the No.1 ranking in singles and doubles, simultaneously, along with Navratilova, Sanchez-Vicario, Hingis, Davenport and Clijsters

CAREER SUMMARY:

WON (36): (incl. 12 Grand Slam titles), most recent title 2010 Australian Open; R-Up (13), most recently 2010 Sydney; 20 doubles titles (incl. 12 Grand Slams) – 19 of 20 doubles titles w/Venus

• Lies joint-3rd place for titles won (36) among active players with Clijsters, behind V.Williams and Henin (both 43)

• Holds 12 Grand Slam singles titles, the most for any active player, and equal 6th all-time. Completed 'Serena Slam' of all 4 Grand Slam titles in a row – 2002 Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open and 2003 Australian Open; only the 5th player to hold all 4 titles at the same time (others are Connolly, Court, Graf and Navratilova)

Current stint at No.1 began on November 2, 2009. First ascended to the top spot on July 8, 2002 (the 12th woman to do so); on April 26, 2010, became the 7th woman to hold the No.1 ranking for 100 or more weeks

Ended 2009 as No.1 (2nd time in her career after 2002) after winning 3 titles and was the first female player to earn more than $6 million in prize money in a year

Won 2nd Tour Championships title in 2009 (after 2001); was also runner-up in 2002 and 2004

By winning 2010 Roland Garros, Venus/Serena became the 3rd pair to hold all 4 Grand Slam doubles titles at the same time (Navratilova/Shriver; Fernandez/Zvereva); they also ascended to joint-No.1 in the doubles rankings

At 2009 Australian Open, became leading all-time prize money leader on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and the first professional female athlete to eclipse the $23-million mark in any professional sports league; has now exceeded $30 million (first female tennis player to do so)

Holds 11-11 lifetime record against No.1s (5-6 vs. Hingis, 1-1 vs. Davenport, 1-0 vs. Capriati, 2-0 vs. V.Williams, 0-1 vs. Mauresmo and 2-3 vs. Henin); her 62 60 win over Henin at 2008 Miami was at the time the most lopsided defeat of a world No.1 since Hingis fell to qualifier and No.129 Dokic by the same score in the 1st round of 1999 Wimbledon (since eclipsed by Venus Williams’ 61 60 win over No.1 Safina at 2009 Wimbledon)

Member of US Olympic Team in 2000 and 2008 (gold medalist in doubles both times w/V.Williams); member of US Fed Cup Team in 1999, 2003 and 2007

GRAND SLAM HISTORY

2010 Wimbledon is 43rd career Grand Slam appearance; has never lost in 1r

Holds 12 Grand Slam singles titles, the most for any active player (and equal 6th all-time). Completed 'Serena Slam' of all 4 Grand Slam titles in a row – 2002 Roland Garros, Wimbledon, US Open and 2003 Australian Open

Has won a Grand Slam title without dropping a set 3 times – 2002 Wimbledon and US Open and 2008 US Open

Saved match point in 2009 Wimbledon SF (vs. Dementieva) before going on to win the title – the first player to save match point 3 times en route to a Grand Slam title, having also done so at 2003 and 2005 Australian Opens

Grand Slam singles runner-up 3 times – 2001 US Open, 2004 Wimbledon, 2008 Wimbledon; also 3-time SF, 11- time QF; reached QF or better at every Grand Slam she contested (16 events) from 2000 Wimbledon through

2005 Australian Open

Earliest defeat is 2r on Grand Slam debut at 1998 Australian Open (l. V.Williams)

Winner of 12 Grand Slam women's doubles titles (all w/Venus, including the last 4 Slams – 2009 Wimbledon, 2009 US Open, 2010 Australian Open and 2010 Roland Garros); also 1 of 5 doubles teams to have completed the career doubles Grand Slam and (along w/Venus), the only team to complete a “Golden Slam” adding 2 Olympic gold medals (2000, 2008)

By winning 2010 Roland Garros, Venus and Serena became just the 3rd team in history to hold all 4 Grand Slam doubles titles at the same time after Martina Navratilova/Pam Shriver (1983-84) and Gigi Fernandez/Natasha Zvereva (1992-93)

Winner of 2 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, at 1998 Wimbledon and 1998 US Open (both w/Mirnyi)

OTHER FACTS

Coached by father, Richard Williams, and mother, Oracene Price; hitting partner is Aleksander (Sasha) Bajin; physical trainer is Esther Lee; previously coached by Rick Macci

Official Web site: www.serenawilliams.com

Appears in Tour's "Looking For A Hero?" advertising campaign

Owns Aneres, a fashion design label (Official Web site: www.aneresdesigns.com)

Won Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year for third time in 2010 (also 2002, 2009)

Began playing tennis at age 5 at public courts in Compton, California

Is youngest of five girls: Lyndrea, Isha, Yetunde (deceased September 14, 2003) and Venus

Vera Zvonareva

TOURNAMENT HISTORY:

Making 8th Wimbledon appearance; previous best results are two 4r finishes, in 2003 (as No.16 seed, l. No.4 seed V.Williams) and 2004 (as No.12 seed, l. No.5 seed Davenport); one 3r finish in 2009 (conceded w/o to Razzano w/ankle injury); reached 2r 3 times, on debut in 2002 (l. No.23 seed Majoli), 2005 (as No.11 seed, l. Peschke) and 2008 (as No.13 seed, l. Tanasugarn in 3s); fell 1r in 2006 (l. No.2 seed Clijsters); did not compete in 2007 due to left wrist injury; won mixed doubles title in 2006 (w/Ram)

2010 HIGHLIGHTS: WON (1): Pattaya City; R-Up (1): Charleston; QF (1): Dubai; 4r (3): Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami

• Won 10th career title at Pattaya City, defending 2009 title (2nd time in career that she has successfully defended a title after 2004/05 Memphis); the first player to win back-to-back titles at that event

• Runner-up at Charleston (as No.7 seed, l. No.4 seed Stosur in final)

• QF at Dubai (as No.6 seed, l. No.4 seed Azarenka)

• Reached 4r at Australian Open (as No.9 seed, l. No.7 Azarenka, led by a set and a break), Indian Wells (as No.12 seed and defending champion, l. No.8 seed Stosur) and Miami (as No.11 seed, l. WC Henin)

• Reached 2r at Madrid (l. No.4 seed V.Williams) and Roland Garros (as No.21 seed, l. An. Rodionova)

• Fell 1r at Rome and Eastbourne

• At Sydney, ret. in 1r match vs. Vesnina at 3-3 (w/right ankle injury; same ankle as off-season surgery)

CAREER SUMMARY:

WON (10): most recently 2010 Pattaya City; R-Up (11): most recently at 2010 Charleston; 5 doubles titles, most recently at 2009 Indian Wells (w/Azarenka, completing singles-doubles title sweep)

• 10-time Tour singles champion, most recently at 2010 Pattaya CIty, where she defended a title for the 2nd time in her career (after 2004-05 Memphis)

• Won biggest title to date at 2009 Indian Wells and finished in year-end Top 10 for 2nd straight year; also reached first Grand Slam SF at 2009 Australian Open and made Top 5 debut in February 2009

• Runner-up at 2008 Tour Championships (l. V.Williams), also qualified in 2004 and played as an alternate in 2009, but did not advance from the round-robin stage on either occasion

• Missed 2 months of 2005 season with left ankle injury; missed 4 months (April to August) of 2007 with left wrist injury; also missed 2 months in 2009 due to a right ankle injury suffered at Charleston (see above); had surgery to remove scar tissue in November 2009

• Coming into Wimbledon, had 18 career Top 10 wins, most recently against No.2 Wozniacki (2010 Charleston via retirement), including 9 Top 5 wins and 2 against reigning No.1s at 2007 Indian Wells (vs. Sharapova) and 2008 Tour Championships (vs. Jankovic)

• Member of Russian Fed Cup Team, 2003-04, 2008; 2008 Russian Olympic Team, (after Sharapova’s withdrawal) went on to win bronze medal in singles over Li

GRAND SLAM HISTORY

• 2010 Wimbledon is 30th career Grand Slam singles main draw appearance

• Best previous result is SF at 2009 Australian Open (l. No.3 seed Safina); also QF at 2003 Roland Garros and 4r on 8 occasions, most recently 2010 Australian Open

• Won 2006 US Open women’s doubles title w/Dechy; two-time Grand Slam mixed doubles champion, at 2004 US Open (w/B.Bryan) and 2006 Wimbledon (w/Ram)

OTHER FACTS

• Currently without a full-time coach; working here with Sergey Demekhin; previously coached by Antonio van Grichen (former coach of Azarenka) January to March 2010; and before that by Samuel Sumyk, who started working with Azarenka in 2010

• Official website: www.zvonareva.ru

• Named a "Promoter of Gender Equality" as part of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's partnership with UNESCO; in this role she joins fellow players Venus Williams, Tatiana Golovin and Zheng Jie; WTA Tour founder Billie Jean King, was also named "Global Mentor for Gender Equality" in November 2008

• In 2008, participated in UNESCO Regional Conference “Political Involvement of Women in the Caucasus” to contribute to the idea of giving women equal opportunities in life

• Supports foundation aiming to increase understanding of Retts Syndrome (complex neurological disorder, predominantly affecting girls); daughter of a close friend affected by it

• Mother introduced her to tennis at age 6, but no one else in family plays tennis

 

Back

 

LadyDragon.Com
Tous droits réservés - All rights reserved
Copyright © 1998 - 2010
dragon@ladydragon.com