Vera Zvonareva reached the women's singles final at Wimbledon on Thursday after beating Tsvetana Pironkova 3-6 6-3 6-2.
Russian 21st seed comes through in three sets against Bulgarian
Vera Zvonareva reached the women's singles final at Wimbledon on Thursday after beating Tsvetana Pironkova 3-6 6-3 6-2.
The Russian 21st seed produced a storming finish to overcome the spirited Bulgarian and reach her first Wimbledon final - and first in a grand slam - at the eighth attempt.
World number 82 Pironkova made the stronger start and took the opening set but Zvonareva weathered the storm before taking advantage of her opponent's increasing tiredness to win 10 of the last 13 games.
Zvonareva had never previously been past the fourth round at Wimbledon but has dropped only two sets in producing the sort of tennis that took her as high as number five in the world rankings in February 2009.
Lucky
She also becomes only the third Russian Wimbledon finalist of the open era, after Olga Morozova and Maria Sharapova.
"I'm very excited," Zvonareva said after her victory. "It's one of my dreams.
"It was very tough out there against a very tough opponent. I'm happy with the way I was able to hang in the match and turn it around."
Pironkova, who caused a sensation on Tuesday by knocking out five-time winner Venus Williams in the quarter-finals, produced some near-faultless tennis to take the first set in just 31 minutes.
The 22-year-old mixed her game up to prevent her opponent finding a rhythm and achieved the first break in the sixth game, courtesy of a lucky net cord.
She dropped just three points in her first three service games and she maintained her consistency to serve out the set.
That meant that Zvonareva, who overcame fellow seeds Yanina Wickmayer, Jelena Jankovic and Kim Clijsters on her way to the last four, had lost a set for only the second time during the fortnight.
Pironkova beat Zvonareva 6-0 6-2 in their only previous meeting in Moscow last year and at the start of the second set she appeared to similarly have the measure of her opponent.
Struggle
However, the momentum began to shift midway through the second set as Zvonareva produced consecutive love service games before earning her first break points in the fourth game.
Pironkova saved them but her big first serve deserted her in the sixth game and Zvonareva hit a backhand winner to gain her first break before serving out to level the match.
The arrival of a decider meant new territory for Pironkova, who had hitherto failed to drop a set, and she continued to struggle as Zvonareva again broke her serve.
The Russian grew in confidence and moved in for the kill as her opponent, while still managing the occasional brilliant backhand as seen earlier in the match, grew increasingly tired.
Zvonareva broke her opponent's service game for a second time in the set and finished the match in total command.
