Clijsters and Venus Exit Wimbledon after Quarter-finals
Tuesday was a shocking day for the Wimbledon quarter-finals with the upset of Andy Roddick being defeated by Yen-Hsun Lu on Monday still fresh in everyone’s minds. Both Venus Williams, number 2 in the world, and Kim Clijsters, the number 8 seed, were slated to have victories in the quarter-final round, but were surprisingly defeated.
Tsvetana Pironkova, ranked 82 in the world, was Venus’s opponent and didn’t appear to be too much to worry about. However, she has only lost one match at Wimbledon in her career, and she wasn’t going to let this match be a second. Pironkova didn’t hold anything back, and defeated Venus 6-2, 6-3.
Venus looked as shocked as everyone else after the first set, and although it looked as though she gained momentum early in the second, her opponent simply outplayed her. Pironkova has never won a WTA Tour tournament, but she now holds the winning record of 2-1 in the three times she and Venus have met.
Pironkova was to play against Clijsters in the next round, but this changed after Clijsters lost to Russian Vera Zvonareva, the number 21 seed, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Clijsters entered the match with less rest, and she said that the pressure on her felt permanent and made her aim for the lines to open the court. She’s also been reminding people that she hasn’t even come back from retirement for a year yet.
The first 5 times Clijsters and Zvonareva met, Clijsters had won. After the match, Zvonareva said that women’s tennis is at a very high competitive level right now.
Pironkova and Zvonareva will meet each other on Thursday in the semi-finals. Who do you think will go on to the finals?