Tsvetana Pironkova looks nervous as she sips from a bottle of water in her chair during Tuesday’s quarterfinal match. She has just held serve against Venus Williams to go up 2-1 in the first set, and her right leg is nervously shaking.
The leg keeps shaking and shaking incessantly until the umpire calls “time.”
Pironkova had never been past the second round of any Grand Slam, yet here she was, about to become the first-ever Bulgarian to secure a semifinal appearance. Who knew that what looked like nervous energy was actually an abundance of desire to win.
Not many expected the 22-year-old from Plovdiv, Bulgaria to make extremely short work of five-time champion Venus Williams, but that is precisely what she did.
Many are now wondering, is the Bulgarian with the “funky little forehand” ready to step it up another notch?
Pironkova, who is coached by her father (a canoe champion, for what it’s worth), cites “Gladiator” as her favorite movie. But her taste in movies has nothing in common with her style of play, which is more tactile, cerebral, and artistic. She is extremely light on her feet and has displayed some of the most graceful footwork of the fortnight thus far.
The WTA’s No. 82-ranked player, who grew up admiring Steffi Graf and the Williams Sisters, is suddenly becoming someone that other young players might want to admire. Her stunning upset over Wimbledon legend Venus Williams definitely portends bigger things for the Bulgarian.
Pironkova played her first main draw event in Istanbul, Turkey in 2005, but hasn’t been ranked higher than No. 40 in her career (June of 2008).
Now that she’s about to take Centre Court in a Wimbledon semifinal against Russian Vera Zvonareva – her first-ever trip beyond the 2nd round of a Grand Slam – who knows were Tsvetana’s wild ride will end.
With her feet firmly planted on cloud nine at the moment, Tsvetana doesn’t seem overly concerned about her upcoming semifinal—she’s just thrilled to still have a place in the draw.
“It seems like a dream actually,” she said Tuesday. “Coming here I never thought I would play that well and reach this part of the tournament. I’m extremely happy.”
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The way Petra Kvitova is playing at Wimbledon, you’d think the rye grass was her own personal magic carpet.
After five scintillating grass court victories, the young southpaw from Fulnek, Czech Republic now finds herself two matches away from becoming the first left-handed woman to win Wimbledon since her idol Martina Navratilova triumphed in 1990.
She’s only twenty, but the tall, lanky Kvitova proved she’s got nerves way beyond her years when she saved five match points against Kaia Kanepi in the final two sets of her quarterfinal match today.
The six foot tall Czech, who had never won a single match on grass before last week, has now reached her first Grand Slam semifinal with exhilarating wins over Jie Zheng, Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, and Kaia Kanepi in succession.
Her success may come as a surprise to most, but signs of her enormous potential for big match wins have been sprinkled here and there throughout her first three years on tour. Since playing her first main draw tournament in Stockholm in 2007, Kvitova has reached the fourth-round of two other Grand Slams and climbed to as high as No. 40 in the rankings (January, 2009). She trains at the same club as men’s semifinalist Tomas Berdych, and is coached by David Kotyza.
The flaxen-haired Czech doesn’t look imposing at first glance, but Kvitova hits a very flat ball that can flummox even her quickest competition. Add to that the snap, crackle, and pop on her left-handed serve and it’s not hard to see why she has reached the fourth-round of a Grand Slam in each of the past three years.
When she goes to the cinema she prefers comedies, but on the court Petra Kvitova has been all business of late. She’s the youngest of the seven Czechs in the top-100, but she’s proving that she’s capable of a much higher ranking if she can continue to elevate her play on a more consistent basis.
Tomorrow’s semifinal is surely the biggest match of Kvitova’s young career, but she’s not letting the pressure of having to face Serena Williams spoil her good mood.
“I’m not the favorite, so I can play just my game and play and enjoy,” she said.
Chris Oddo is a freelance tennis writer and blogger who is based in San Francisco, California. He is a regular commenter at OTB under the moniker The Fan Child. You can follow his blog at http://thefanchild.blogspot.com.
Great read!
It’s nice to get to know these new players that sometimes seem to come out of nowhere. Pretty impressive of Kvitova reaching the fourth round of a slam every year on tour thus far – I had no idea.
I like Pironkova’s chances against Zvonereva. Boy, wouldn’t it be crazy if these two ended up playing each other in the final.