sports stars: January 2011

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Vera Zvonareva Early life best

Vera Igorevna Zvonareva Russian: Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, pronouncedlisten born September 7, 198 is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000She has reached a career high and current ranking of World No. 2.Zvonareva has won ten WTA Tour singles titlesand reached the finals of the 2008 WTA Tour Championships, 2010 Wimbledon Championships and 2010 US Open. She also was a bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Contents
* 1 Early life
* 2 Career
o 2.1 1999–2001
o 2.2 2002
o 2.3 2003
o 2.4 2004
o 2.5 2005
o 2.6 2006
o 2.7 2007
o 2.8 2008
o 2.9 2009
o 2.10 2010
o 2.11 2011
* 3 Playing style
* 4 Personal
* 5 Singles performance timeline
* 6 References
* 7 External links
Early life
Zvonareva was born September 7, 1984 in Moscow to Igor Zvonareva and Nataliya Zvonareva née BykovaIgor played Bandy in the USSR championship with Dynamo Moscow, while Nataliya played field hockey and was the bronze medalist at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.Vera was introduced to tennis at the age of six by her mother, although no other members of her family play tennis
Career
19992001
Zvonareva is no.2 in the world and started to compete on the ITF Circuit in 1999, debuting at an ITF tournament in Tbilisi, Georgia. She won three qualifying matches there to reach the main draw before losing in the first round. The next year, she won an ITF event in Moscow, Russia without dropping a set, despite being unranked. The event was just the second event she had played in her professional career. Five weeks later, she made her WTA-level debut at the Tier I tournament in Moscow, beating World No. 148 Elena Bovina before losing to World No. 11 Anna Kournikova in the second round. In 2001, she failed to qualify for WTA events in Key Biscayne, Florida and Moscow, but reached a semifinal at the ITF Circuit tournament in Civitanova, Italy. During this time, she also showed her adeptness in juniors' competition by winning the Orange Bowl under-18s event in 2000 and 2001 2002
Zvonareva won her second ITF Circuit title in Naples, Florida and in July reached her first singles final on the WTA Tour at Palermo, losing to Mariana Díaz-Oliva in three sets. She also achieved semifinal finishes in Warsaw and Sopot plus a quarterfinal finish in Bol. Zvonareva won three qualifying matches at the French Open to reach the main draw for the first time at a Grand Slam tournament. She lost there in the fourth round to eventual champion Serena Williams Her ranking was high enough for a direct entry into Wimbledon where she lost in the second round to 23rd-seeded Iva Majoli At the US Open, Zvonareva lost to World No. 7 Kim Clijsters of Belgium in the third round . Her ranking rose into the top 100 after the French Open and into the top 50 after the US Open.
2003
Zvonareva won the title at the Tier III event in Bol, beating Conchita Martínez Granados in the final, and reached three other semifinals (including the Tier II event in LinShe defeated a top 10 player for the first time when she beat World No. 10 Anastasia Myskina in Berlin. At the French Open, Zvonareva defeated World No. 3 Venus Williams in the fourth round before losing in the quarterfinals to World No. 76 Nadia Petrova. Her French Open results caused her ranking to enter the top 20. She reached the quarterfinals in six out of the seven Tier I events she contested. Her debut for the Russian Fed Cup team was in the World Group quarterfinals against Slovenia. Russia won 5–0 but lost to France 3–2 in the semifinals. In doubles, she reached her first WTA final at Moscow with Myskina. She ended the year ranked World No. 13.
2004
Zvonareva won her first career Grand Slam title, winning the mixed doubles competition at the US Open. She won one singles title, in Memphis, Tennessee, and reached the final of the events in Cincinnati, Ohio and Philadelphia, losing to top ten players Lindsay Davenport and Amélie Mauresmo respectively. In the final of the Memphis event, Zvonareva trailed hometown favorite Lisa Raymond 5–2 in the third set before saving three match points and winning the last five games of the match to win the title In addition to this, she reached the semifinals of three Tier I tournaments in Rome, San Diego, and Montreal. She lost in San Diego to fellow Russian Anastasia Myskina, in a match that featured a final set tiebreak that finished Zvonareva and Myskina teamed up in the final of the Fed Cup, playing in the crucial final rubber against Marion Bartoli and Émilie Loit, which the pair won to seal Russia's first ever Fed Cup title.
Zvonareva ended the year ranked World No. 11, her best year-end ranking back then. In August, she reached her career high of World No. 9. Because of several withdrawals, Zvonareva was able to compete at the WTA Tour Championships, an event reserved for the top eight players in the world. She was unable to win a match and exited at the round robin stage.
2005
She defended her Memphis title in this year when she defeated Meghann Shaughnessy, but she was injured in the second half of 2005from June to DecemberHer ranking dropped from No. 11 to No. 42.
2006
Zvonareva at 2006 Kremlin Cup.
In 2006, Zvonareva won her first regular doubles Grand Slam tournament in the US Open, partnering Nathalie Dechy of France. She obtained a second mixed doubles title at Wimbledon, in partnering Andy Ram of Israel. They defeated Americans Bob Bryan and Venus Williams 6–2, She garnered some success in singles competition, winning two titles in a season for the first time in her career. This included her first tournament win on grass, at the DFS Classic in Birmingham, England. Her other title came in Cincinnati, where she played a nearly flawless match against Serena Williams in the semifinals, and beat Katarina Srebotnik in the final.
Sania Mirza2007
The 2007 season produced a year of mixed fortunes for Zvonareva. At the 2007 Pacific Life Open, she stunned World No. 1 Maria Sharapova, who was the defending champion, 6–1 in the fourth round. It was her first ever victory over a reigning World No. 1; however, she fell in the next round to Chinese player Li Na. At her next tournament, the Family Circle Cup, she was forced to retire when playing Dinara Safina and down a set, due to a left wrist injury. This injury was to keep out of the European clay court season, the grass court season and most of the North American hardcourt season. On returning to the tour, she reached the third round of the U.S. Open, losing to Serena Williams. At the remaining tournaments on her schedule, she reached the quarterfinals or better at four out of five, with semifinal finishes coming in Luxembourg and Quebec. Her one final came during the first week of the year, in Auckland, New Zealand.
2008
Zvonareva began the year by losing to wildcard Marina Erakovic, then ranked World No. 153, at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. She then reached the final of the Tier IV Moorilla Hobart International in Hobart, Australia, where she did not play the final against Eleni Daniilidou because of an ankle injury. This injury also forced her to retire in her first round match at the Australian Open against Ai Sugiyama while trailing
Still playing on hard courts, she then reached the final of the Tier I Qatar Total Open in Doha, beating Dinara Safina, Sybille Bammer, and Li Na along the way. In the final against World No. 5 and fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova, Zvonareva lost in three sets. In March, at the Bangalore Open, Zvonareva lost in the quarterfinals to Venus Williams. Zvonareva then reached the quarterfinals of the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California before losing to eventual champion Ana IvanoviTwo weeks later, Zvonareva reached the semifinals of the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida where she lost to fourth-seeded Jelena Janković 6–1,

On clay, Zvonareva then reached her third final overall and second Tier I final of the year at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina. En route to the final, she defeated World No. 5 Janković and World No. 8 Elena Dementieva, the first time in her career that she defeated two top 10 players in the same tournament. In the final, she lost to fifth-seeded Serena Williams in three sets. In May, Zvonareva won her first WTA title in nearly two years. At the Tier IV ECM Prague Open, Zvonareva defeated third-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the final. This was her sixth career singles title.[4] She then lost to Venus Williams in the third round of the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome and to Dementieva in the fourth round of the French Open.
On grass, Zvonareva lost her first match at the International Women's Open in Eastbourne, United Kingdom and her second round match with Tamarine Tanasugarn at Wimbledon.
During the North American summer hardcourt season, commonly known as the US Open Series, she lost in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, the second round of the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles, and the first round of the Tier I Rogers Cup in Montreal. At the Beijing Olympics, Zvonareva lost in the semifinals to fifth seeded Dementieva but then defeated Chinese player Li Nato win the bronze medal, her first medal of any kind. These results caused Zvonareva's ranking to rise to a career-high-equaling World No. 9. Two weeks later, Zvonareva was seeded eighth at the US Open but lost in the second round to Tatiana Perebiynis of Ukraine
In September, Zvonareva helped Russia to victory against Spain in the final of the Fed Cup. Zvonareva won the opening match of the tie in Madrid, defeating Anabel Medina Garrigues 6–3, At the Guangzhou International Women's Open, a Tier III event, she defeated Zheng Jie in straight sets in a semifinal before beating Peng Shuai in the final. She then reached the semifinals at the China Open in Beijing, losing a three-set match to top-seeded Janković. At the Tier II Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Zvonareva lost in the quarterfinals, again to Janković, In her hometown event, the Kremlin Cup in Moscow the week after, Zvonareva beat second-seeded Safina in straight sets in a semifinal but lost to Janković for the third time in three weeks in the final in straight sets. In a second round match against Medina Garrigues at the Zurich Open, Zvonareva retired from the match while trailing . However, she then reached the final of the Generali Ladies Linz in Austria, beating Marion Bartoli in the semifinals before losing the final to Ivanović in straight sets, hitting 32 unforced errors.
To finish off the year, Zvonareva qualified for the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships open to the top eight playerfor the second time in her career. To accrue enough points to qualify, she had played six consecutive tournaments after the US Open. In her first round robin match, she won against compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova Zvonareva then beat Ivanović before completing a clean sweep of her group by defeating World No. 1 Janković . She reached the final by defeating Olympic gold medalist Dementieva but lost a three-setter to Wimbledon champion Venus Williams

Vera Zvonareva

saniya mirza best stars

saniya mirza

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Sania Mirza 2010

Sania Mirza (Urdu- سانیا مرزا ) (Hindi- सानिया मिर्ज़ा )(born November 15, 1986) is a professional female Indian tennis player. She began her tennis career in 2003. In 2004 she was awarded the Arjuna award by the Indian Government. She is known for her powerful forehand ground strokes.
Contents
* 1 Early life
* 2 Career
o 2.1 2008
o 2.2 2009
o 2.3 2010
o 2.4 2011
* 3 Personal life
* 4 Controversy
* 5 Career finals
o 5.1 WTA Tour singles finals 4 (1-3)
o 5.2 Doubles
+ 5.2.1 Wins (13)
o 5.3 WTA Mixed Doubles
+ 5.3.1 Finals (2)
* 6 Singles performance timeline
* 7 References
o 7.1 Sources
* 8 External links
Early lifeMirza was born to Imran Mirza, a sports journalist, and his wife Nasima in Mumbai, India. She was brought up in Hyderabad in a religious Shia Muslim family began playing tennis at the age of six, turning professional in 2003. She was trained by her father and other family members. She attended Nasr school in Hyderabad and later graduated from St. Mary's College CareerIn April 2003, Mirza made her debut in the India Fed Cup team, winning all three singles matches. She also won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title, teaming up with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.Mirza is the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India, with a career high ranking of 27 in singles and 18 in doubles. She is the first Indian woman to be seeded in a Grand Slam tennis tournament. She was the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament at the 2005 U.S. Open, defeating Mashona Washington, Maria Elena Camerin and Marion Bartoli. In winning, with Mahesh Bhupathi, the mixed doubles event at the 2009 Australian Open, she became the first Indian woman to win a Grand Slam title.In 2005, Mirza reached the third round of the Australian Open, losing to eventual champion Serena Williams. On February 12, 2005, she became the first Indian woman to win a WTA singles title, defeating Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine in the Hyderabad Open Finals. As of September 2006, Mirza has notched up three top 10 wins; against Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Martina Hingis. At the 2006 Doha Asian Games, Mirza won the silver in the women's singles category and the gold in the mixed doubles partnering Leander Paes. She was also part of the Indian women's team that won the silver in the team event.
In 2006, Mirza was awarded a Padma Shri, India's fourth highest honor for her achievements as a tennis playeMirza had had the best results of her career during the 2007 summer hardcourt season, finishing eighth in the 2007 U.S. Open Series standings. She reached the final of the Bank of the West Classic and won the doubles event with Shahar Pe'er, and reached the quarterfinals of the Tier 1 Acura Classic.At the 2007 U.S. Open, she reached the third round before losing to Anna Chakvetadze for the third time in recent weeks. She fared much better in the doubles, reaching the quarterfinals in mixed with her partner Mahesh Bhupathi and the quarterfinals in the women's doubles with Bethanie Mattek, including a win over number two seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur.Mirza received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the MGR Educational and Research Institute University in Chennai on 2008-12-11 Her niece, Sonia Baig Mirza, studies there.200Mirza reached the quarter-finals at Hobart as No. 6 seed. She lost to Flavia Pennetta in three sets. She reached the third round at the Australian Open as No.31 seed, where she lost to No.8 seed Venus Williams 7–6(0) 6–4, having led 5–3 in the first set. She was runner-up in the Australian Open mixed doubles partnering Mahesh Bhupathi where they lost 7–6(4), 6–4 to Sun Tiantian and Nenad Zimonjić.She withdrew from the Pattaya Open because of a left adductor strain.Mirza reached the 4r at Indian Wells as No.21 seed, defeating No.9 seed Shahar Pe'er en route, but lost to No.5 seed Daniela Hantuchová.At the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, as No.32 seed, Mirza was defeated by qualifier María José Martínez Sánchez, 6–0, 4–6, 9–7, having had several match points.Mirza was eliminated in the first round of the 2008 Beijing Olympics when she retired in her match against Iveta Benešová because of a right wrist injury. Throughout 2008, Mirza was plagued by a slew of wrist injuries, requiring her to withdraw from several matches including those of the Roland Garros and US Open Grand Slams.2009Mirza picked up her first Grand Slam title at the 2009 Australian Open. Partnered with Mahesh Bhupathi, she won the mixed doubles title beating Nathalie Dechy (France) and Andy Ram (Israel) 6–3, 6–1 in the final in Melbourne. She then entered the Pattaya Women's Open Tournament in Bangkok where she reached the finals after a string of good performances. She lost the finals to Vera Zvonareva 7–5, 6–1. She made the semis in doubles in the same tournament.Mirza then competed in the BNP Paribas Open where she lost in the second round to Flavia Pennetta. She then participated in the Miami Masters and lost to Mathilde Johansson of France in the first round. Mirza and her doubles partner Chia-jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei made the semifinals of the doubles event. Mirza lost in the first round of the MPS Group Championships but won the doubles title with Chuang. She lost in the first round at Roland Garros, losing to Kazakhstan's Galina Voskoboeva. She also lost in the second round of the doubles (with Chuang) and mixed doubles (with Mahesh Bhupathi). She participated in the 2009 AEGON Classic and reached the semifinals, losing to Magdaléna Rybáriková of Slovakia 3–6,6–0,6–3, who eventually won the title.Mirza defeated Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the first round of the 2009 Wimbledon Championships. She then fell to #28 Sorana Cîrstea in the second round. She competed in and won the Lexington Challenger event, defeating top seed Julie Coin of France in the final. She also reached the final of the ITF event in Vancouver but lost to Stéphanie Dubois of Canada. Playing in the U.S Open, she defeated Olga Govortsova in the first round but lost 6–0, 6–0 to 10th seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy. She also lost in the second round of the doubles event (partnering Francesca Schiavone) to Shahar Pe'er and Gisela Dulko.Mirza successfully qualified for the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo but lost in the first round to Zheng Jie. Mirza won the first set but could not hold the lead, eventually losing to the Chinese player 7
At Osaka, Mirza won her first round match against 5th seed Shahar Pe'er 3–6, 6–3, 6–4. Mirza then defeated Viktoriya Kutuzova 6–4, 6–3 and in the quarterfinal she defeated 2nd seed Marion Bartoli 6–4, 2–0 by retirement. Bartoli conceded her match and Mirza moved on to the semifinal to meet 4th seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy. 201Mirza began her year at the ASB Classic in Auckland. She won her first round match against Stefanie Vögele in three sets, but was crushed by 4th seed Francesca Schiavone in the second round. Mirza then two first-round losses at the Moorilla Hobart International and the Australian Open.In February, Sania competed in the 2010 PTT Pattaya Open as the 6th seed, but lost to Tatjana Malek 6-3, 4-6, 3-6. She then played in the Dubai Tennis Championships but suffered a first round deficit to Anabel Medina Garrigues. Sania was forced to withdraw from the Sony Ericcson Open and BNP Paribas Open due to a right wrist injury. This injury also caused her to pull out of the French Open.
She returned at the AEGON Classic, where she lost in the second round to Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn in the three sets. Mirza then fell in the qualifying at Eastbourne, and lost in the first round of Wimbledon.Her bad form continued, as she lost in the qualifying rounds of both the Cincinnati Masters and the Rogers Cup.In October, she represented India at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, as the 2nd seed. She defeated Brittany Teei, Marina Erakovic, and Olivia Rogowska before losing to Australia's Anastasia Rodionova in the final. In doubles, she partnered with India's Rushmi Chakravarthi, losing in the semifinals to Rodionova and Peers. Then for the Bronze Medal's match, Mirza and Chakravarthi beat another Indian team of Venkatesha and Sanjeev. 2011Again, Mirza started her year with the ASB Classic Open in Auckland. She needed one more win to qualify for the tournament, but lost in three sets against Germany's Sabine LisickiPersonal lifeIn 2009, Sania Mirza got engaged with a childhood friend Sohrab Mirza, however this engagement did not last lon Mirza married Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik on April 12, 2010 wedding was held in Hyderabad, India while the walima reception was held in Sialkot, Pakistan. The online attention the wedding generated made Mirza the most searched woman tennis player in 2010 according to Google Trends. The couple planned to settle down in Dubai.

Sania Mirza