Wimbledon: SF Preview

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? And how can it be that 22-year-old Tsvetana Pironkova, conqueror of 2007 finalist Marion Bartoli and six-time champion Venus Williams, had never been past the second round of a major? Both are faced with formidable foes on Thursday, but that hasn't stopped them mopping up five seeds between them so far this fortnight. If either can keep up the good work, they will become Wimbledon's first-ever unseeded finalist. If both make it through to the title bout, it will be the first all-unseeded Grand Slam final of the Open Era.

Centre Court
[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. Petra Kvitova (CZE #62)
H2H: Williams leads 1-0
Grass W-L record (2010/career): Williams (5-0/57-8)...Kvitova (5-1/5-4)
Serena has hit 73 aces in her five matches so far, which is a tournament record, and won 89% of points off her first serve. In short, she's been sharp pretty much from the get-go at these Championships, and will surely only be galvanized by Venus's surprise exit. With her sliding lefty serve and awesome shot-making ability, Kvitova certainly has the weapons to give the defending champion a ding-dong battle; she also shouldn't be intimidated by the Williams name, given her first big win was at the expense of Venus two years ago at Memphis. Of course, a Wimbledon semifinal is another matter, but as the old adage goes, Kvitova has nothing to lose. Interestingly, she's been to the net more times than Serena (70 forays to 66) and been more successful once there (70% to 66.7%). If she can achieve the unthinkable, she'll be the first lefthander to reach a Grand Slam final since Monica Seles at 1998 Roland Garros, and the fourth Czech-born woman to reach the final here, after Navratilova, Mandlikova and Novotna. And whatever happens today, she'll be a vibrant addition to the Top 30 when the rankings are refreshed next Monday.

[21] Vera Zvonareva (RUS #21) vs. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL #82)
H2H: Pironkova leads 1-0
Grass W-L record (2010/career): Zvonareva (5-1/26-12)...Pironkova (6-1/21-13)
Having now resurrected her career twice, Zvonareva is the sixth Russian woman to reach the semis at Wimbledon in the Open Era. Reaching the final would be a considerably more rare achievement, as only Olga Morozova (1974) and Maria Sharapova (2004) have done it before. While it's great to see that the ankle injury that saw her plummet from the Top 5 is no longer an issue, it was even better to see her handle Monday's quarterfinal against Kim Clijsters in such a cool, calm and collected way. If she advances to the final, the intellectual Russian will do so on her 30th try; only Zina Garrison (34) and Nathalie Tauziat (42) played more majors before reaching their first final (coincidentally, both did it at Wimbledon). Pironkova, with her effective slice forehand, is making even bigger history: she's the first Bulgarian semifinalist at Wimbledon, and indeed the first Grand Slam semifinalist from her country (Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere was already representing Switzerland by the time she did it). If she conjures a win today, she'll be into her first-ever Tour final. That would be some breakthrough.