Last year’s finalist and second seed Vera Zvonareva lost in the third round of Wimbledon to world No.33 Tsvetana Pironkova, the Bulgarian player whom she defeated last year in the semis of the grass-court Grand Slam. Final score: 6-2 6-3.
Zvonareva committed 18 unforced errors to Pironkova’s 5 and converted only 1 of seven break point opportunities.
In the Wimbledon warm-up event in Eastbourne, Pironkova scared Serena Williams’ fans by defeating her 6-1 in the first set. Williams won, but in the second round fell to Vera Zvonareva, whom she defeated for the 2010 Wimbledon title.
Pironkova’s next opponent will be Venus Williams, who advanced with a solid 6-0 6-2 victory over Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. Let me remind you that the Bulgarian took the five-time champion Venus out from last year’s Wimbledon, at the quarterfinal stage.
World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki was solid on Friday, with a 6-1 6-3 win over Virginie Razzano and just one unforced error! Svetlana Kuznetsova suffered a 4-6 6-3 6-4 defeat by Yanina Wickmayer. Maria Sharapova defeated Laura Robson 7-6(4) 6-3. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)
What’s with top players this year on grass? You’re suppose to play best at slams, and not let yourself bad days like this. Pironkova can be a tricky opponent, but definitely not someone a top5 player should lose against with this result.
I’m so sad for Hantuchova :-((((
A lot of players that I was expecting to win in the early rounds have been ousted. I can’t wait to see who will play in the finals! http://www.tennisround.com
Tsvetana has great motivation to go as deep as possible in this tourney as she has QF points to defend. Even if Vera had lost in R1 she would still be in the top 8 whereas Tsvetana would have dropped out of the top 100 with an early round loss.
Hantuchova certainly fought courageously at Wimby and should be proud of her efforts. At least Woz doesn’t have to worry about facing Georges again, thanks to Cibulkova.
Pironkova is playing well on grass but Venus should be motivated and prepped to deliver the knockout blow.