Second time in career: Zvonareva reached the final of the US Open in doubles

Zvonareva's return to the US Open final

Vera Zvonareva, together with German Laura Siegemund, reached the final of the women's doubles tournament at the US Open.

Zvonareva already won this trophy 14 years ago, when she paired with Frenchwoman Natalie Deschi and beat compatriot Dinara Safina with Slovenian Katharina Srebotnik in the decisive match.

The fact that at least one representative of Russia will perform in the final was known even after the results of the quarterfinals.

After this round, the young duo Anna Blinkova - Veronika Kudermetova became rivals of Zvonareva and Siegemund.

The last Russian women to play in the final of the doubles tournament of the New York Major were Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, who won the title in 2014.

Prior to the current US Open, Zvonareva and Siegemund had never played together and ended up in the tournament bracket in a protected rating.

This did not prevent them from knocking out two strong duos at once before meeting with the Russians - Victoria Azarenka with Sofia Kenin and Eliza Mertens, seeded with the second number, with Arina Sobolenko.

The match with the participation of three Russian tennis players and one German lasted more than two and a half hours.

In the first set, Zvonareva and Siegemund stubbornly resisted and escaped from several break points, before they themselves took someone else's serve and took the lead.

However, Blinkova and Kudermetova were able not only to recoup, but also to make a break with the score 6: 5 in their favor.

The second game began with the fact that the Russian tennis players gave up their serve very easily, and experienced rivals immediately took advantage of this to increase the advantage to 5: 2.

However, Blinkova and Kudermetova showed character and first played two set points in the eighth game, and then took the serve of their rivals.

However, the international duo nevertheless brought the game to victory, accepting the next serve of the opponents to zero.

The third set was divided into two halves - first, both sides won two games at the reception, then they did not give up their serve.

Logically, the game should have smoothly reached the tie-break, but suddenly Kudermetova lost three points on her serve.

Zvonareva and Siegemund immediately took advantage of the gift and realized the first matchball - 5: 7, 6: 3, 7: 5.

“I loved the challenge I put on myself: getting back in shape and training hard is something special.

Of course I miss home.

It has become a little more difficult than before, because I want to spend as much time as possible with my family and daughter.

But, in spite of everything, I am still happy to be here and compete, ”Zvonareva said after the match.

Unseeded veterans.

Still getting it done.

Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva are into the final in doubles after defeating Blinkova and Kudermetova 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 💪 @ laurasiegemund I @ verazvonarevapic.twitter.com / Rvo6PjRWXx

- US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 8, 2020

For the Russian tennis player, this will be the first Grand Slam final after the birth of her daughter.

The rivals of the Russian-German duo will be determined on September 9 in the match between Ayji Muhammad and Taylor Townsend against Nicole Melichar and Xu Yifan.

Zverev passes, Shapovalov leaves

In addition to Andrei Rublev and Daniil Medvedev, two more tennis players with Russian roots made their way to the quarterfinals of the men's singles tournament at the US Open, but only one of them went further.

Alexander Zverev managed to reach the semi-finals of the Major for the second time in his career thanks to a victory in four sets over Borna Coric - 1: 6, 7: 6 (7: 5), 7: 6 (7: 1), 6: 3, and Denis Shapovalov, to the disappointment of his fans, he could not take advantage of the disqualification of Novak Djokovic and defeat Pablo Carreño-Bust.

The Croat was considered by many experts to be one of the most uncomfortable opponents for a German.

And when Zverev gave the first game of the reporting fight almost without a fight, it seemed that they were right.

But Zverev found the strength to add and win a strong-willed victory.

First, he showed character in the course of the second game, when with the score 4: 3, 40:30 in favor of Coric he “chewed out” his serve.

Then he did not flinch on two tie-breaks.

And in the final set, he played four break points on one of his serves, after which he systematically squeezed Bornu in key rallies.

Zverev's next opponent will be the Spaniard Pablo Carreno-Busta.

His match with Shapovalov lasted more than four hours and ended in the fifth set.

The Canadian looked more than decent on the court.

He has filed through 26 times, successfully completed 52 out of 70 out of the net and recorded 76 actively scored points.

This helped him to take two parties, and one of them - zero.

In the other two, the Spaniard was better at tie-breaks.

At the beginning of the fifth set, the Spaniard asked for a medical time-out.

The pause obviously did him good, because after it he allowed the Canadian to win only 4 out of 24 rallies at the reception. Shapovalov, although he did not experience problems with his serve, made several unforced mistakes in the sixth game and allowed the opponent to take a break, which in the end, and decided the outcome of the match.

Carreño-Busta, three years later, again reached the semifinals of the US Open.