Zvonareva Solid, Ivanovic Collapses in Gusty Indian Wells Final

March 22nd, 2009

Zvonareva Solid, Ivanovic Collapses in Gusty Indian Wells Final

by Staff

Russian Vera Zvonareva made the most of the absence of the Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova at the BNP Paribas Open, defeating former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, who collapsed in a pile of unforced errors 7-6(5), 6-2 in extremely gusty conditions in the final at Indian Wells.

Zvonareva, better known for collapsing in tears when things haven’t gone her way on court, was the picture of poise in dealing with the windy conditions, including an Ivanovic serve that bounced twice before she was able to get to it.

Ivanovic repeatedly bashed her racquet on the court in frustration when she was unable to win the first set, squandering three set points when serving for the match at 6-5.

Ivanovic made a total of 44 unforced errors in the match, compared to 16 for the Russian.

The loss was another jolt to the confidence of Ivanovic, who achieved the No. 1 ranking last year but then fell down the rankings with a combination of injuries and failing confidence.

Zvonareva and Victoria Azarenka won their first title as a team in the doubles final, beating Gisela Dulko and Shahar Peer on Saturday.

“It’s amazing,” Zvonareva said after the singles final. “It’s a great feeling to win such a big event. I’m still a little bit in the match. I think I did a great job. Even though I made some mistakes and had some frustrating points with the wind, I was still trying to concentrate. I was fighting for every point, no matter what. Even if I was down 0-40 in a game I played for it. Maybe I was better at doing that today than Ana.”

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This entry was posted on Sunday, March 22nd, 2009 at 7:33 pm and is filed under Tennis.
Tags: Ana Ivanovic, Indian Wells, Vera Zvonareva, WTA

10 Comments for “Zvonareva Solid, Ivanovic Collapses in Gusty Indian Wells Final”

Von Says:

“Ivanovic repeatedly bashed her racquet on the court in frustration when she was unable to win the first set, squandering three set points ‘when serving for the match’ at 6-5.”

I believe she was serving for the set at 6-5 not the match.

Posted March 22nd, 2009 at 8:50 pm

Bojan Says:

Really, all credits to Vera. She played consistent and good. It’s ridiculous that Ana made 24 winners compared to only 5 by Vera and that she still won. The conditions were awful and Ana wasn’t up to the task mentally. I think that the result would be similar even if the conditions were normal, and today I spotted a big whole in Ana’s game. I don’t think that her new “aggressive” game plan can bring her something big. There is always a big question “and what when you cant play aggressive?”
That was a major question today too. She pushed too hard.

Posted March 22nd, 2009 at 8:50 pm

Bojan Says:

Von: At 6-5 Zvonareva served and Ana had 3 break/set points.

Posted March 22nd, 2009 at 8:52 pm

;o Says:

The final would have been much better had there been no wind.
It really destroyed Ana’s game

Posted March 22nd, 2009 at 9:01 pm

tenisbebe Says:

Yes - it’s a shame that the at least one match on Saturday & both of today’s finals weighed heavily in favor of who handled the adverse conditions better & less on the quality of their tennis. But them’s the breaks.

Posted March 22nd, 2009 at 9:38 pm

Shan Says:

The match was chalk full of errors - probably about as many errors as I found in this news item!

Posted March 22nd, 2009 at 9:46 pm

;o Says:

Im just watching the womens again now and I realized its almost like wtahcing a nadal playing a nadal. I swear they’re both moving in some points a yard or so more than usually needed

Posted March 22nd, 2009 at 9:47 pm

Ezorra Says:

Nadal won against Murray? Is that true? I don’t even know that!

Posted March 22nd, 2009 at 10:17 pm

pistol pete fan Says:

nadal waxed murray so what, what has he ever won and pete sampras is the goat.

Posted March 23rd, 2009 at 2:12 pm

I like tennis bullies Says:

it’s good to have a new champion at indian wells, zvonareva is good.

Posted March 23rd, 2009 at 5:30 pm