Month of July , 2010

The Spice Girls of tennis, Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova, made a popular return to the All-England Club on Tuesday for the Invitational Doubles, beating Sam Smith and Anne Hobbs, 62 64.

Serena and Venus Williams' stranglehold of women's doubles was ended at Wimbledon on Wednesday when the American sisters were knocked out in the quarterfinals by Vera Zvonareva and Elena Vesnina.

A 3-6 6-3 6-4 defeat to the Russian duo ended Venus's tournament after she suffered a shock defeat to Bulgaria's world number 82 Tsvetana Pironkova in the last eight of the women's singles on Tuesday.

The Williams' title at the French Open earlier this month was their 12th together in grand slams and meant they held all four majors at the same time.

Tsvetana Pironkova is confident she can handle the attention garnered by her shock Wimbledon triumph over Venus Williams despite struggling to cope with the same pressure four years ago.

The unseeded Bulgarian's quarter-final victory over the five-time champion was her second Grand Slam success against Williams.

As a teenager, Pironkova secured a 2-6 6-0 9-7 victory over the American in the 2006 Australian Open before losing in straight sets to Laura Granville in the second round.

If humility was a sign of a true champion then unseeded Czech Petra Kvitova would be in with a real chance of upsetting the odds and beating Serena Williams in their semifinal showdown on Thursday.

The 20-year-old, who is ranked 62 in the world and had never won a match on grass before these championships, has left a scattering of seeds in her wake to set up her clash with the defending champion.

But can she go all the way and lift the famous Rosewater Dish to rapturous applause on Centre Court?

The last time she reached a Grand Slam semifinal, at the Australian Open in 2009, things looked on the up and up. A squeaky clean No.5 world ranking, a sparkling 20-3 record to start the year and the clay court season - one of her favorites - approaching around the corner.

In light of her upsets of Zheng Jie, Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki, how can it be that 20-year-old Petra Kvitova arrived at Wimbledon having never previously won a match on grass?

The style of tennis Serena Williams plays is potent on every surface other than clay, where she struggles with her movement as she isn't comfortable sliding into her shots.

On grass, she possesses the necessary weapons to be wholly effective; a powerful first serve, a fantastic second serve, aggressive returns and a will to win that's second to none.

There are some players who rely on their favourite shots to dominate opponents and win matches, others that understand the best course of action is to play the percentages and hope their opponents beat themselves by making too many unforced errors. Tsvetana Pironkova most definitely falls into the latter category as her quarter-final win over former champion Venus Williams proved.

It all comes down to belief. Even when Serena Williams is not the world No.1 (it has been a sporadic problem), she still likes to think of herself as the world's best player. That is where she believes she belongs. Such confidence has brought her 12 grand slam titles (and counting) and has carried her through to the semi finals in SW19 for the seventh time.

If there is anyone on earth who forecast that the women's semi-final line-up in the bottom half of the draw would comprise Tsvetana Pironkova against Vera Zvonareva, then not only are they cleverer than a clever person on Clever Day on Planet Clever, but in the immediate short term their plans should include buying several lottery tickets.

Household names are not in abundant supply at this afternoon's women's semi-finals. Serena Williams we all know about, of course: one of the sisters who have dominated the Ladies' Championship since the turn of the century.

Day 10: Thursday, 1 July 2010
Centre Court 13:00 Start Time
1. Ladies' Singles - Semifinals
Vera Zvonareva (RUS)[21] v. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)
2. Ladies' Singles - Semifinals
Serena Williams (USA)[1] v. Petra Kvitova (CZE)
 
Results:

Roger Federer was bullied off court for the second time in a month on Wednesday but his Wimbledon exit at the hands of Czech Tomas Berdych could do much more significant damage to his psyche.

For seven years at the All England Club the 28-year-old Swiss has been virtually unbeatable with only an inspired Rafael Nadal getting the better of him in an epic 2008 final.

This year, however, Federer has looked strangely vulnerable from the opening round when he came within three points of defeat by Colombian journeyman Alejandro Falla.

Like the rest of the sporting world, it seems that even Roger Federer cannot fathom that he actually lost at Wimbledon before the final.

As he has done for the last seven years, the Swiss maestro rolled up at the players’ entrance on the second Thursday of the championships in his courtesy car.

Except this time there will be no gentle practice session on the eve of the men’s semi-final.

The King of Wimbledon may not be dead but, for 12 months at least, he has been overthrown.

And with a gaggle of aspiring heirs apparent snapping in line - yesterday's conquering hero Tomas Berdych for one - Roger Federer may never regain his crown.

At 28, with 16 Grand Slam titles and oneyear- old twin daughters tugging him in different directions, time is not on his side.

Petra Kvitova described it as a "dream." Tsvetana Pironkova said, "This is truly like a dream to me." Vera Zvonareva: "It's been one of my dreams."

They're not the only ones for whom it must be a dream. Defending champion Serena Williams' odds of defending her Wimbledon title, always good, increased dramatically when this unlikely trio joined her in reaching the semifinals.

Experience had the final say as Russia's Vera Zvonareva thrust aside the brave challenge of Tsvetana Pironkova, a Bulgarian ranked 82 in the world, 3-6 6-3- 6-2 in one hour 46 minutes to reach the women's singles final.

Pirnokova, bidding to become the first unseeded woman ever to get to a Wimbledon final, gave the occasion her best shot, particularly in an impressive opening set, but when Zvonareva, who is the 21st seed but was ranked as high as fifth last year, upped her pace and commitment she simply had too much in the tank for Pironkova.

It's no good expecting fairytales at the sharp end of elite sport. David's task against Goliath was a pushover by comparison with that facing Petra Kvitova in the semi-final on the Centre Court. Her opponent Serena Williams is the world number one, a three-time Wimbledon champion, and a 12-time Grand Slam champion. By contrast Kvitova, who had never previously won any match on grass before this Wimbledon fortnight, came into this Wimbledon as the world number 62.

With all due respect to the Misses Zvonareva and Pironkova, the first of the ladies' semi-finals did not exactly set the pulses racing when the order of play was published.

It was not that anyone doubted their natural skill with racket and ball - they had more than proved their ability and competitive edge in the previous five rounds - it was just that neither woman was particularly experienced in dealing with the sharp end of Grand Slam tournaments.

Vera Zvonareva may be studying a Masters degree in international economic relations but she won't be number crunching her head-to-heads with Serena Williams or calculating the amount of Grand Slams the American has totted up ahead of their final meeting.

After her match she was informed that Williams is potentially pegged as the biggest favourite to win the title over the last 10 years and perhaps even in history. But the Russian refuses to listen to anyone churning out such statistics. She believes in herself and that is that.