GA_googleAddSlot("ca-pub-1197233282945943", "Star_Sports_Skyscraper");

Sports

Published: Tuesday June 28, 2011 MYT 4:46:00 PM

Pironkova thrives on Wimbledon, playing Venus


WIMBLEDON, England (AP) - For the second year in a row, Tsvetana Pironkova is finding the grass is greener at Wimbledon.

The 23-year-old Bulgarian, who knocked out Venus Williams 6-2, 6-3 in a surprise run to the semifinals in 2010, repeated the trick Monday, beating the five-time champion by exactly the same scoreline. The only difference was that this year's win came one stage earlier in the fourth round.

Pironkova also beat Williams in the first round of the Australian Open in 2006 and with Monday's win, she joined Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters in being the only players to have beaten Venus three times or more at Grand Slams.

"I couldn't say that I know how to play her because every time is different," Pironkova said. "I don't go on the court with a strategy in my head. When I go on the court, I see what's working, what's not working, and I try to play the best way that I can. That's it."

Pironkova avenged last year's semifinal loss to Vera Zvonareva in the third round, but she has found success hard to come by away from Wimbledon.

Coming into this year's tournament, she had won only nine matches on the WTA Tour since her semifinal run last year.

"The WTA Tour is difficult," she said. "All of the players are amazing. I don't have an explanation for that. This is the sport. This is tennis. Every time when I went on the court I tried to do my best, and I did. But did I have the great results?" Pironkova plays Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals Tuesday. She has lost both their previous matches - but neither were on grass.

COMEBACK KID: Martina Hingis can probably sympathize with Serena Williams more than just about anyone.

The former top-ranked player from Switzerland won five Grand Slam titles in her career but was then off the tour for the 2003 and '04 seasons. She only played one event in 2005 but returned full time for 2006 and '07, winning three titles and moving up to No. 6 in the rankings.

"I think the hardest part of coming back is the concentration, it's not even the tennis," said Hingis, the 1997 Wimbledon champion. "It's the movement on the court; you have to see the balls."

The 30-year-old Hingis spoke Monday before both Serena and Venus Williams lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon, but she certainly knew what they would be going through.

Serena won the Wimbledon title last year, but she only returned to action two weeks ago following some serious health problems, including blood clots in her lungs. Venus returned at the same tournament at Eastbourne after about five months off with a hip injury.

Besides talking about their struggles, Hingis also remembered what it was like to face Serena when she was still active.

"(Serena) she was my least favorite player to play," said Hingis, who retired for good in 2007 after testing positive for cocaine during Wimbledon. "Her game was different. I was more passive, my defense had to be good before I could be aggressive."

LOVE AND HATE: Hassan Ndayishimiye grew up in a shantytown in his native Burundi and hated tennis. Now he's in the second round of the boys tournament at Wimbledon and loving it.

The 16-year-old Ndayishimiye, the first Burundian to play at Wimbledon, beat Matias Sborowitz of Chile 6-4, 6-4 Monday in the first round in his Grand Slam debut.

"I was patient," said Ndayishimiye, a wild-card entry in the qualifying tournament. "This is a big deal because I wasn't even supposed to be here, but they decided to give me a chance to come here and see how I could do.

"I took my opportunity and I'm actually trying to keep it going."

Ndayishimiye grew up in a shantytown in Bujumbura. When he was 4, he was pushed to play tennis by his father, who is a tennis coach.

"He was actually forcing me to play tennis because I didn't really like tennis," Ndayishimiye said. "I kept on playing and I won some tournaments.

That's what made me like tennis because I was a kid and I liked winning." Ndayishimiye receives assistance from the International Tennis Federation and the Grand Slam Development Fund, which was established in 1986 to help young tennis talents from developing nations.

Since 2009, he's lived and trained at the ITF Training Center in Pretoria, South Africa.

At Wimbledon, Ndayishimiye has had a close-up view of the professional game. "I'm enjoying seeing the players," Ndayishimiye said. "I haven't really talked to any of them, but I've said 'Hi."'

  • E-mail this story
  • Print this story