F7756F96-E9F0-4F7B-AFE8-D0E1E87453CB
By Adrianna Outlaw
© Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA
(June 30, 2010) The Williams sisters' Grand Slam doubles vision was denied today.
Russia's Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva defeated defending Wimbledon doubles champions Venus and Serena Williams, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, today, denying the sisters' quest to complete a single season Grand Slam sweep.
It is an even bigger upset than World No. 82 Tsvetana Pironkova's shocking 6-2, 6-3 conquest of five-time Wimbledon winner Venus in Tuesday's singles quarterfinals.
The Williams sisters entered today's quarterfinals holding all four Grand Slam doubles championships and carrying a 26-match major winning streak. The sisters had posted an 18-0 reocrd this season capturing doubles crowns at the Australian Open, Madrid and French Open. They have been even more dominant in doubles than singles.
None of that mattered to Vesnina and Zvonareva, who directed their attack at Venus for much of the match. Venus, perhaps still emotionally drained by her upset loss to Pironkova yesterday, lacked her usual aggression. But the Russians broke Serena, the best server in women's tennis, in the final set and made the break stand to reach the semifinals.
The match could serve as a preview of the Wimbledon singles final as the 21st-seeded Zvonareva takes on Pironkova for a spot in Saturday's final where she could face top-seeded Serena, an overwhelming favorite to beat Petra Kvitova in her semifinal tomorrow.
"I have to give a lot of credit to my partner, Elena, she did a great job," Zvonareva said. "We were just trying to hang in there and fight for every point. It is difficult to beat them. They are a great team we knew we had to play our best tennis and I think we did."
The two-time defending doubles champions had won 15 consecutive Wimbledon matches, but the Russians employed a divide and conquer approach and frequently serving wide to create openings down the middle.
World No. 41 Vesnina was the lowest-ranked woman in the match and the best player on court in the final set.
Serving for a semifinal spot, Vesnina traded crosscourt forehands with Serena, who tried to sneak forward to net, but Vesnina saw the move and drilled a deep forehand at Serena's feet forcing a forehand error to earn match point. Vesnina closed the match on Venus' error.
"Playing against the Williams sisters is always a challenge and you always want to ,show your best" Vesnina said. "I think the key to the match was we were serving really well.'