Vera Zvonareva sexy tennis star
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Vera Igorevna Zvonareva (pronunciation: VEH-ruh zvon-a-RYOH-vuh), born September 7, 1984, Moscow, Russia) is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. On August 9, 2004, she reached her career high ranking of No. 9 in the world. Zvonareva has won five WTA Tour singles titles, four WTA Tour doubles titles and two ITF Women's Circuit singles titles. In her first few years on the pro tour, she became known for her fragile psyche, often breaking down in tears during matches. Critics cited her unstable emotions as a reason why her results may have fallen short of her expectations. Her first Slam quarterfinal came at the 2003 French Open, defeating Venus Williams in the fourth round. Of her five singles titles, two have been at the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee. Early Life Zvonareva was born September 7, 1984 in Moscow, Russia to Igor Zvonarev and Natalia Zvonareva. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six by her mother, although no other members of her family play the game. Career Zvonareva started to compete on the ITF Circuit in 1999, debuting at an ITF tournament in 2002 2002 was Zvonareva's first season in which she started to play more WTA-level events. She won her second ITF Circuit title in Naples, Florida, and then reached her first singles final on the WTA Tour at 2003 Zvonareva had a breakthrough season in 2003. She won the title in Bol, beating Conchita Martínez Granados in the final, and reaching three other semifinals (including Tier II Linz). At Roland Garros, she defeated third-ranked Venus Williams in the fourth round for her best career victory so far, but fell in the quarters to Nadia Petrova. Before beating Williams, she defeated tenth-ranked Anastasia Myskina in Berlin for her first Top 10 win. After her Roland Garros showing, she broke the Top 20. Out of seven Tier I events she contested, six ended in the quarterfinals. Her debut for the Russian Fed Cup team was in the World Group quarterfinals against Slovenia. 2004 Zvonareva won the first Grand Slam title of her career, winning the mixed doubles competition at the US Open. She won one singles title, in Zvonareva was rewarded with her best year-end ranking position, finishing No. 11 in the world. In August, she reached her career high of No. 9. Due to several withdrawals, Zvonareva was able to compete at the WTA Tour Championships, an event reserved for the top 8 players in the world. She was unable to win a match and exited at the round robin stage. 2006-07 In 2006, Zvonareva won her first regular doubles Grand Slam tournament in the US Open, partnering Nathalie Dechy of France. She obtained a second mixed doubles title at Wimbledon, in partnering Andy Ram of Israel. They defeated Americans Bob Bryan and Venus Williams 6–2, 6–3. She garnered some success in singles competition, winning two titles in a season for the first time in her career. This included her first tournament win on grass, at the DFS Classic in Birmingham, England. Her other title came in Cincinnati, where she played a nearly flawless match against Serena Williams in the semifinals, and beat Katarina Srebotnik in the final. The 2007 season produced a year of mixed fortunes for Zvonareva. At the 2007 Pacific Life Open, she stunned World No. 1 Maria Sharapova, who was the defending champion, 4–6, 7–5, 6–1 in the fourth round. It was her first ever victory over a reigning World No. 1; however, she fell in the next round to Chinese player Li Na. At her next tournament, the Family Circle Cup, she was forced to retire when playing Dinara Safina and down a set, due to a left wrist injury. This injury was to keep out of the European clay court season, the grass court season and most of the North American hardcourt season. On returning to the tour, she reached the third round of the U.S. Open, losing to Serena Williams. At the remaining tournaments on her schedule, she reached the quarterfinals or better at four out of five, with semifinal finishes coming in 2008 Zvonareva began 2008 with a run to the final of the Tier IV Moorilla International, where she had to pull out of the final against Eleni Daniilidou due to an ankle injury, which forced her to retire in her first round at the Australian Open against Ai Sugiyama, trailing 3–6, 1–1. However she played very well in source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Early Career
