Translated material
Quick ending
Vera Zvonareva lost in the US Open final
Tennis player Vera Zvonareva had a great time at the US Open. The Russian athlete performed perfectly in all matches except the last one. Vera frankly failed in the final, losing to Belgian Kim Clijsters in 59 minutes - 6:2, 6:1. It was the shortest decisive match in the history of the tournament. More precisely, since 1980, when the timing of matches was first recorded.There is nothing to tell about the final match. Zvonareva did not succeed at all. And if someday Kim writes a book and says that she let her opponent win three games out of pity, then no one will be surprised. Clijsters could well have won faster with a clean sheet. Even when Vera had two break points, she was lost and could not catch on to someone else’s serve.
But it was against the Belgian that Vera had good chances in the decisive match. The fact is that in the semifinals Zvonareva beat Caroline Wozniacki, who plays in the same manner as Clijsters, and she did it as peremptorily as she later lost in the decisive match.
The day after the semi-final, Caroline was beside herself with frustration and even stated that if she had to meet the Russian tennis player again, she would win. “Of course, Zvonareva played a good match,” Wozniacki said. “The ball was on her racket, and I made too many mistakes.” If this match had taken place later or if we had been allowed to repeat the game, then I would have acted completely differently and would have won. However, now I have become more experienced, I will draw conclusions and play smarter. In essence, reaching the semi-finals at such a tournament is a decent result.”
Probably, Zvonareva simply did not have enough strength for the last meeting. She indirectly confirmed this at the final press conference: “Maybe I should give up competing in doubles. It’s probably worth thinking about how to properly distribute time and energy. Although it would be a shame to give up doubles - Lena Vesnina and I have a very good pairing. But, on the other hand, there will be weekends, which means you can relax, making your workouts a little less intense. Kim was better prepared for the last match than I was. It was difficult for me to show what I showed in the semi-finals against Caroline. And in general, every day at the tournament I felt more and more tired.”
It should be noted that Vera was not considered the main contender for reaching the finals, but she was the last of the Russian girls remaining in the tournament. She may have been a little lucky with the draw, because even for reaching the semifinals she fought with the “unseeded” Kaia Kanepi from Estonia, but it was not Zvonareva who chose her opponents.
However, the semi-final turned out to be very difficult. In the match with Wozniacki, Vera had serious problems with her rackets, the strings of which broke unusually often. “Once, when I competed in a junior tournament, I only had two rackets,” Vera recalled. - And both suddenly broke. I had to borrow a racket from the fans who were watching the match. Now I have a large selection of rackets, but in general the situation turned out to be atypical.”
Let us note that on Saturday she lost to the objectively best tennis player on the planet. Belgian Clijsters recently gave birth to a child, and there are few athletes on the tour who return to the court after this. Kim not only returned, but quickly got into shape and does not change her style. She is technical, smart, carefully thinks through every combination, and does not rely only on the force of the blow. She plays equally well against “guns”, as in the semi-finals with Venus Williams, and against technical girls, like Zvonareva.
After the match, the Belgian said that she would like to stay in tennis for another two years. “I really want to take part in the Olympics in London,” admitted the winner of the tournament. - But again, it’s difficult to make plans for such a time. I'll just train and play. Of course, the Grand Slam tournaments will remain a priority. Since I can do it, why should I stop what I’m doing?” After this, Kim admitted that she preferred the Australian Championship, since it has a harder and faster surface. Let us note that now the nearest tournament is on the Green Continent, at the beginning of next year.
The men's final took place late at night, and the day before there was a huge sensation. Serbian Novak Djokovic unexpectedly knocked Roger Federer out of the fight and after the match jokingly apologized to the fans for disappointing them. He will play Rafael Nadal, who easily beat Mikhail Youzhny.