Vera zones 3 times a year. FROM
THE BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC – Before Anna Chakvetadze set off the
great floods of 2007- 2008, shedding on court tears from Paris to New
York, there were high-watermarks from another Russian, Vera Zvonareva,
a talented, rapid-stroking, inside-the-baseliner whose pale, Northern
face was frequently splotched with red marks from mid-match bouts of crying.
Like A-Chak, Vera Z. didn't even know she was crying half the time and
like A-Chak, during some important matches, her tear ducts would spill
over even while she was ahead.
It seems like ages ago that Zvonareva lost perhaps the best match in the
history of the now defunct San Diego tournament, when Anastasia Myskina
fought off nine match points and pulled off a remarkable 6-2, 6-7 (4),
7-6 (15) victory over the charged up Zvonareva in the semis.
The match was a bubbling emotional cauldron all the way through, with
angst-ridden Myskina constantly castigating her good-natured coach, Jens
Gerlach, and Zvonareva cracking her racket and launching balls over the
La Costa club house in anger.
Just after the match and before she went out to play doubles, Zvonareva
said she wasn't upset even while wiping tears off her face. She was in
full denial.
Now fast forward to 2008 where she’s more soft-spoken and seems
to be much more comfortable with herself. A few years of injuries and
time off will do that for a player. She hasn't dismissed her goals, but
she doesn't seem to see herself as a world beater, either.
"When you first come on tour you don't think much and everything
is perfect," said Zvonareva, the Bank of the West Classic third seed
who will face Samantha Stosur in her opening match. "Then you come
through different times and everyone wants to beat you and they know how
you play. You always have to prove yourself and defend. If you have a
bad day, you have to go out and fight and try to win the match. It's difficult
because the competition is getting tougher and tougher. You have to improve
and work."
Zvonareva is only 23, but she's in her sixth full year on tour. She broke
out in 2002 when she finished in the top 50. In 2004 and 2005, she held
the No. 9 ranking. She's won six career singles titles, but none at a
Tier II level or higher.
She's rock solid off the ground, moves fairly well, but her game is lacking
in color. In some ways she's the proto-typical, post fall of the Berlin
Wall Russian women's player -- an aggressive baseliner who was so competent
at putting away players in the juniors by consistently aiming for the
corners, that she didn't begin to develop variety in her game until she
reached the pros. Put simply, she'll hammer the ball crosscourt until
she gets an opportunity to go down the line. If she makes the shot, fine.
If not, she'll either win a war of attrition or lose in sloppy fashion.
There's a big difference between zoning and being zoned on in the grinding
life of a tour player.
"There are some days tennis feels like a job and you have to do it,
and there are other days where you want to do nothing else but grab your
racket. It gets difficult at times. There are only two or three tournaments
where you really enjoy your game and really love it and the rest of the
year you just have to go out there and fight. But that's what makes it
interesting. If everything was so simple, it would be boring."
It's not simple when a player cannot avoid injury, and Zvonareva has had
a slew of them -- ankle, wrist, shoulder and thigh.
Unlike Chakvetadze, who is shy but says she craves the spotlight, Zvonareva
appears to be better suited for a comfy back seat at the theater. On a
great day, she still flashes top 10 stuff, but seems destined to be no
more than a one-time semifinalist at a major, and she hasn't even reached
that far yet.
But the potential is there, even this year after a slow and injury-riddled
start. She was the runner-up at Charleston, upending Jelena Jankovic and
Elena Dementieva before falling to Serena Williams in three sets in the
final. She won Tier III Prague over the talented Victoria Azarenka. But
then she walked into the majors, where's she always had trouble, reaching
only one career quarterfinal, 2003 Roland Garros.
In Paris, Dementieva pounded her in the third set of their duel and then
Tamarine Tanasugarn upset her early at Wimbledon.
Zvonareva is currently ranked No. 11 and is on the cusp of achieving her
best ranking ever, but if she doesn't snare a decent sized crown, who
will notice if she reaches No. 8?
She's humble though, a quality not often found on the tour. She'll go
to Beijing for the Olympics to compete in the doubles with Elena Vesnina.
She's not too prideful to turn down a doubles spot.
"I will take my chance because you never know what happens later,"
she said. "If I looked back at my career and said I was good, made
it to top 10 and won a couple of mixed doubles in Grand Slams and never
went to the Olympics, maybe I wouldn't be fulfilled."
Plus, being named to the Olympic team in medal- mad Russia means a great
deal. Recall that two-time Slam champ Yevgeny Kafelnikov said that winning
the gold was the greatest achievement of his life.
"It matters a lot for Russian to win the Olympics," said Zvonareva,
who is coached by Samuel Sumyk, fellow WTA player Meilen Tu's husband.
"There are a lot of tennis fans who will watch all the grand Slams,
but there are other who will just watch the Olympics because they love
sports."
MalTamAmber
is happy off court with Chang but struggled on court.Liu
Engaged to Chang
The hotly rumored engagement has been confirmed, but not without a some
significant teeth pulling from a joyful Amber Liu post her 6-1, 6-0 loss
to Patty Schnyder in the first round.
The Stanford grad and former NCAA champ will wed 1989 French Open winner
Michael Chang, who is also helping coach her. The news first came out
of Newport last weekend during Change's Hall of Fame induction, but neither
athlete had spoken publicly. The 24-year-old Liu was reticent to spill
all the beans, but with the 36-year-old Chang watching her match intently
from the middle of the stands in Palo Alto, it was clear that something
had come to pass.
"I'm very happy and it's a very exciting time in my life," Lui
said, confirming the engagement. "I'm looking forward to the future."
Apparently, the two began discussing a potential marriage back in March.
Liu hadn't played since Indian Wells up until Stanford, four months ago,
allowing her ranking to drop to No. 384.
"A lot of exciting things that were taking place at home have been
taking a priority over my tennis," the SoCal resident said when asked
why she took so much time off.
Liu isn't sure when her next tournament will be, nor whether she will
attempt to play the US Open.
In other on-court action, Nadia Petrova was taken down 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 by
the up-and-coming Slovakian teen, Dominika Cibulkova.
The new phenom, Portuguese 15-year-old Michelle Larcher de Brito earned
herself a match up with top seed Serena Williams by beating Gisela Dulko
7-5 7-6(1). In another upset, Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada beat Francesca
Schiavone 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.Britain has to be quite pleased with the progress
of Anne Keothavong, who upset last year's runner-up, Indian Sania Mirza,
7-6 (4), 6-1.
The 24-year-old Keothavong is now ranked No. 82 and has her eyes on the
top 50. Wouldn’t that be a treat for England to actually have a
women’s player again who is worth mentioning more than once a year.
She out-steadied Mirza, who is really struggling post-wrist surgery to
find the feel on her forehand.
"I knew I had to be solid because Sania can play hot and cold,"
she said. "The longer each point went on, the more I thought I had
a chance to win it."
Mirza looked quite sad after the match, as it’s been slow going
in her recovery from right wrist surgery in the spring. She feels pain
on a daily basis but understands that it took the likes of Flavia Pennetta
and Andy Murray months to come back from similar surgeries.
"I feel like the wrist stops whipping," Mirza said. "Maybe
I'm missing power. Suddenly it stops moving. Maybe the nerves stop firing.
It's very frustrating if it's your weapon."
Shahar Peer bested Melinda Czink 7-5 6-0 and will play defending champion
Anna Chakvetadze.
Why not end with by closing a chapter on Schnyder and her husband, Rainer
Hoffman’s book, the "White Mile." The eerie tome was supposed
to come out this year, but they’ve hit a major bump in the road
-- lack of time and know-how. They don’t have a firm publication
date anymore.
“Its really tough to get it all together,” she said. “It’s
easy to start but now we got a little stuck. We have no time and I was
struggling with my tennis and we needed some holidays and my husband was
busy with other stuff. It’s easy to start and write all the little
stories and incidents but then to try and put it all together is tough.
It’s going to be a while.”
