Vera Zvonareva has joined Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters in the semifinals of the US Open with a 6-3 7-5 victory over Kaia Kanepi in the round of eight. Both Zvonareva and Kanepi were making their first appearance at that stage of the US Open.
The seventh-seeded Zvonareva attributed the win in the windy conditions in Arthur Ashe Stadium to her ability to find the right balance between “keeping the ball in play and going for your shots”, as she said. Kanepi was apparently far from that balance, as she made 60 unforced.
In the beginning of the match the players traded breaks to make it 1-1, and in those first two games they made 12 unforced errors and only one winner. The final statistics of the match show a total of 88 unforced errors and only 28 winners, 18 scored by seed No.31 Kanepi.
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki or Dominika Cibulkova will be Zvonareva’s opponent in the semifinals. (source: ESPN, photo: © Neal Trousdale)
