Wimbledon Day 1 Match of the Day: Riske vs. Zvonareva

A Court 1 match where the #2 seed could find herself in trouble.

While the Russian, Zvonareva is a decent player on grass, it's Riske's best surface.  A strong start from the American, Riske could pose problems for an emotional Zvonareva.

The two have never played before, but I expect a close see-saw match with Riske pulling out the upset in the end.

Three close sets with Riske winning the third 7-5.  The biggest upset of Day 1.

Is a Major on the Horizon for Zvonareva?

Ranked #2 in the world and with her confidence riding high, twenty-six year old Russian, Vera Zvonareva is poised to win a Grand Slam title in 2011 and it might be in Australia.

Zvonareva recovered from a career-threatening sequence of injuries to become one of the biggest surprises of 2010, winning close to 50 matches and moving up the world rankings to a career high.  With a favorable draw in Melbourne until the quarter-finals when she may meet Samantha Stosur, Zvonareva feels this might be her time.

She reached the Wimbledon and US Open finals by beating leading players, including world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, US Open champion Kim Clijsters and former world number one Jelena Jankovic.
The Russian has one doubles and two mixed-doubles Grand Slam titles -- at Wimbledon and at the US Open -- but it's the singles major she wants.  To get this major, she might even cut down on some of her doubles play.  "I have to use my strength and make sure I'm fresh for the most important matches," she said. "And maybe I will cut down on doubles a little bit more this year, because it takes a lot of energy."

Zvonareva is a "thinking woman's" player and she hopes she won't analyze her game too much.  "I think when I play naturally I play my best tennis," she said after losing her first competitive match of 2011 at the Sydney International this week.

As for what it takes to be a grand slam champion, the Muscovite, who combines her tennis with studies for a postgraduate degree in international economic relations, had clearly given the subject plenty of thought.

"You have to know yourself well," she said. "You have to know how hard you want to work throughout those two weeks. What exactly do you have to do to bring your best in the last stages of the grand slams.

Zvonareva has been training hard and hopes she is peaking three Saturdays from now.

Clijsters Wins Third U.S. Open Crown

Belgian, Kim Clijsters feels right at home in New York.

She claimed her third U.S. Open title with a straight-sets victory over Russian Vera Zvonareva on Saturday night in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

The No. 2 seed breezed through Zvonareva 6-2, 6-1 en route to her second straight championship.

Clijsters broke Zvonareva twice in both sets, which included taking seven consecutive points. Frustrated with how the match was quickly deteriorating, Zvonareva smashed her racket to the ground several times.

Clijsters, who also won the U.S. Open in 2005, extended her match-winning streak in New York to 21.

Before Saturday's victory, Clijsters had dropped two matches to her Russian opponent this year, both quarter-final losses at Wimbledon and the Rogers Cup in Montreal last month

Zvonareva was making her second straight Grand Slam final appearance. She lost to American Serena Williams at the Wimbledon final in July.