Zvonareva beats Wozniacki, Sharapova withdraws from WTA Championships

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Wilson Blade 9

Vera Zvonareva worked her way to the victory over Caroline Wozniacki in the last match of the second day of the WTA Championships which finished close to midnight local time. Despite the loss, Wozniacki is now certain to stay No.1 when the year-end rankings are released, as Maria Sharapova withdrew from the tournament.

Zvonareva raced to a 4-0 lead and soon after to victory in the first set by taking the last, eighth game of the set to love. Zvonareva hit 18 winners to Wozniacki’s only three, and nine unforced errors to Wozniacki’s five.

The second set went with serve until 5-4 when Zvonareva served to prevent the decider. With an ace the Russian saved Wozniacki’s first break/set point, but on the third she succumbed and the persevering Wozniacki was closer to her 64th victory of the year. Compare with the first set, in the second Zvonareva made 26 unforced errors!

Discouragement didn’t get to Zvonareva and she made a 4-1 lead in the third set, and except for Wozniacki’s brief comeback to 4-3, Zvonareva finished the match by breaking Wozniacki’s serve in the final game to love. Score: 6-2 4-6 6-3.

Reminder: Wozniacki won her first round-robin match yesterday against Agnieszka Radwanska, while Zvonareva lost hers against Petra Kvitova.

During the Wozniacki vs. Zvonareva match and soon after Maria Sharapova‘s second disappointing loss at the 2011 WTA Championships, it was announced that the Russian withdrew from the tournament with left ankle sprain and that Marion Bartoli will be her replacement. Sharapova’s chances of advancing to the semifinals were very slim anyway. (photos: © Neal Trousdale, Tony)

2 COMMENTS

  1. Nice win and confidence booster for Zvonareva. I cant pick between Radwanska and Zvonareva. I like the game of both. I wish Radwanska had won her match yesterday against Wozniaki. If Zvonareva and Kvitova win tomorrow, they will both qualify for semis. Lets see what comes out.

  2. Maria made a good decision. Her form has dropped very much during past few months, and now it’s getting worse with this injury. I hope she’ll be fully ready for the next season.

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