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By Adrianna Outlaw
© Tony Chang/Chang Photography
(August 6, 2010) Coco Vandeweghe grew up in Southern California dreaming of playing above the net. The former junior volleyball player and niece of former New York Knicks forward Kiki Vandeweghe returned home and unleashed an explosive, and sometimes erratic, attack to spike Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, and advance to the Mercury Insurance Open quarterfinals at the La Costa Resort and Spa.
Vandeweghe sounded every bit of her 18 years when playing the word game in summing up her reaction to her biggest win.
"It’s pretty cool," Vandeweghe said. "It’s not a great word but it’s all I can come up with right now."
It was the third career WTA Tour-level win for Vandeweghe.
World No. 205 Vandeweghe, who is playing just her second Tour-level main draw event of the season, saved 12 of 18 break points and overcame 10 double fault by continuing to hit out and take the match to the third-seeded Zvonareva, who was reduced to tears by the loss.
"I don’t think she surprised me as much as I surprised myself," said Zvonareva. "I started pretty good, then I started playing stupid for two sets. I was giving her a lot of opportunities to play the way she likes. I kept making the same mistakes over and over again."
It was the fifth consecutive win for Vandeweghe, who won three matches in qualifying to reach the main draw. She will contest the first quarterfinal of her career today when she takes on two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova not before 2:15 p.m. local time.
Kuznetsova complicated matters for herself in blowing a a 5-1 third-set lead before battling through a three-set match for the second straight time before finally subduing Italian Sara Errani, 6-1, 6-7(5), 7-5.
A philosophical Kuznetsova, who has already reached the doubles semifinal partnering fellow Russian Zvonareva, said the struggle should toughen her up.
"There's a saying in Russian, 'What ends good is good'," Kuznetsova said. "I need matches like this because I won and I was fighting and it was really hard. I said, 'Okay, it's enough. You had too many chances and you have to go for it.' I did the right thing in the end, even though it took me a long time."
The third-seeded Zvonareva is a former Grand Slam doubles champion, who has the ability to play from anywhere on the court. But under pressure against Vandeweghe, who could blast brilliant winners followed by impetuous errors, Zvonareva got tight on the big points and played conservative shots down the middle allowing Vandeweghe, who can crack her forehand and serve, plenty of time and space to set up and unload.
Zvonareva actually won more points in the match (98 to 93) and had more break point chances, but converted just six of 18 break points in the two hour, 13-minute match.
Tennis Channel will televise today's quarterfinal between second-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur and fifth-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta live starting at 3 p.m. Eastern time. The complete TV schedule is here.