by Pete Bodo
NEW YORK—If you perused the press notes this morning, you might have been inclined to send Vera Zvonareva a note of condolence even before she took to the court this afternoon for her U.S. Open semifinal against Caroline Wozniacki.
Zvonareva's opponent had been hard at work trying to improve on Venus Williams' season-best singles winning streak of 15 matches. Wozniacki is also the only player to have won four WTA tour singles finals this year, and she toted a 19-1 record since the end of Wimbledon. As the top seed here, she dropped just 17 games enroute to the semis, the fewest since Serena Williams lost 14 in 2002—and she left Flushing Meadows as champion.
And did I mention that last year, Zvonareva staggered out of Ashe stadium with blood on her knees (from hitting herself with her racket) and cheeks still wet with tears of frustration after she lost her fourth-round match (to Flavia Pennetta), having found a way to blow six match points?
The No. 8 seed is well known as a young lady who could find the down-side of an up escalator, and her reputation as the WTA Meltdown Queen will linger, even if she went a long way toward dispelling it through the course of this year. I think they call this "branding." But, as she said, "Last year is something that was in the past. I had some experience last year, not only here at the U.S. Open, but the while year overall. I played a lot of matches. I take that experience and try to use it to my advantage. Never look back. I'm just looking forward all the time."
Of course, there's always someone there to tap her on the shoulder to remind her of the bad old days. But even without that, the tale-of-the-tape for the semi was enough to make even the "new" Vera weep. She won the fewest titles this season (one) among the four semifinalists and has collected the least amount of prize money. She was the pock-marked asteroid lost among the stars. You could almost write her concession speech for today: And on top of everything else, it was terribly windy out there and that really helped Caroline because she plays with so much topspin, while poor me hits flat and likes to be inventive. Hey, pass me that Kleenex, wouldja?
But Zvonareva came well-prepared today, in every department except equipment. "The key was having just the right balance between being patient and being aggressive," she explained after her win. "You know, with those windy conditions, you have to play sometimes ugly, you know. You don't have to expect to play your best tennis. That's what I did well. I was not expecting to play my best tennis, I was trying to be patient when I need, and to step up when I got the chances.'
What we have here, folks, is a reformed perfectionist. And once she cast off the mantle of self-imposed perfectionism, the tears began to dry up. It's a valuable lesson, usually learned early in a career. But better late than never. As she said, "I know I'm not gonna play perfect tennis all the time." Or as Brad Gilbert once observed, "You don't have to win the U.S. Open today, you don't have to play great. You just have to beat the guy across the net.
Zvonareva is a gifted, versatile ball striker, her potential impaired only by her sensitivity and penchant for negativity. Today, we saw the best of what she has to offer: probing, consistent groundstrokes, quick feet, a willingness to use the entire court and even to attack and knock off volleys. At her best, like she was today, she moves in a crab-like fashion, takes the ball early, and keeps it low. She has a solid slice backhand when she wants to attack, and a sturdy two-hander for the heavy lifting in rallies.
All that sets the table for a juicy analysis of this match, but I don't have one to offer. Wozniacki—the last surviving member of American Express' Next Contenders campaign—came up flat, and while Zvonareva looked strong as well as focused, she was rarely forced to produce her best stuff. On this day, keeping the ball in the court long enough for a Wozniacki to make an error was all the talent she needed. It appeared that the pressure of the situation—a winnable match with a return to the U.S. Open final at stake—got to Wozniacki, and led her to play tense, tentative, error-prone tennis. Let's remember that at 20, she's a good six years younger than the next youngest player in the semis—the woman she played.
After racing to out to a 6-4, 4-2 lead, Zvonareva popped a string and found that she was out of serviceable rackets. She scurried around in a panic (it was the fifth string failure of the brief match—there goes half her prize money), and it looked as if she might be obliged to take off a shoe and press it into service. But her coach sent down a previously used frame, and Zvonareva made do with it until a newly-strung frame arrived from the stringer.
Can you think of a better reason to panic and collapse into a blithering heap than running out of rackets in the middle of a Grand Slam semifinal? I couldn't have been the only person to think that while the "headcase" label seems passe, a panic reaction at that stage could have earned her immediate entry into the Headcase Hall of Fame. Instead, she barged into the U.S. Open final.
This wasn't the first time that Zvonareva ran out of weapons in the middle of a battle. It happened to her back in the junior days, back when she had just two frames to her name. She ended up borrowing a racket from a spectator. I don't know if she won that match, but she put this one in the bag almost immediately after the incident, winning the second set 6-3.
Wozniacki gave Zvonareva credit in a gracious post-match presser. "I mean she's a great player," the Dane said. "It's always tough. She definitely has a chance to win it. She's playing well so I don't see a reason she shouldn't be able to win."
Some of the rest of us could think of one reason: Kim Clijsters, a multiple Grand Slam champion and former No. 1, who will be Zvonareva's opponent in the final. My advice? Bring enough rackets.