Penalties for disputes with referees in tennis are imposed on athletes around the world. As for emotions, players really sometimes cross the line, allowing themselves frank rudeness. However, the Russian star did not even need to swear to receive a punishment from the judge at the decisive moment of the match.
The girl just… spoke to the referee in Russian. A couple of words cost our tennis player a ticket to the final.
The search for the third title
In 2011, Vera Zvonareva was at the top of her form. The tennis player started the season strong, having achieved the best result of her career at the Australian Open: the Russian reached the semifinals, where she lost to future titleholder Kim Clijsters.
A week after the end of the competition in Australia, the athlete left for Thailand. By that time, the Pattaya Open Championship had almost become an international favorite” Zvonareva. Vera won the tournament twice in a row: in 2009 and 2010, for which she went to her next draw as the clear favorite.
Actually, the Russian woman in Pattaya was seeded under the first number – she was the highest-rated participant in the championship, later occupying the third line in the WTA ranking. Zvonareva started according to expectations: in the first round, the tennis player eliminated the Austrian Tamira Pashek, in the second – the hostess of the court Nungnaddu Wannasuk, and in the quarterfinals she defeated the Chinese Peng Shuai in three sets. .
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“I was talking to myself”
A truly difficult opponent, Daniela Gantukhova, went to Vera only at the semifinal stage, although in this duel experts preferred our athlete. The Slovakian tennis player fought the Russian in the first set, winning in a tie-break.
The rivals passed without problems in the second installment, however, with the score 3:3, Gantukhova managed to make a break. The already tense Zvonareva instantly lost her temper after an unsuccessful game, and began to hit the racket on the court.
Finally, Vera was unbalanced by an episode in the tenth game, which was decisive in the match. The Russian had good chances to even the score, but the judge unexpectedly made a decision in favor of Daniela, annulling the announced linear out. Zvonareva demanded the intervention of a supervisor, but instead received an unexpected warning.
WTA
The judge’s wording was amazing. The specialist said that the Russian woman allegedly addressed her rudely in her native language, but there are two nuances. Firstly, the empire did not listen to the words of the athlete: she “read them on the lips.” Secondly, the referee… did not speak Russian. How, in this case, he was even able to make out anything in Zvonareva’s speech, except for a disgruntled intonation, remains a mystery.
– I do not agree with this decision. I spoke to myself in Russian. I don’t think she could understand what I said,” Vera said after the game.
The outcome of the match was determined in a few moments. Gantukhova easily took match point from the demoralized Russian woman and proceeded to the final, eventually winning the Thai tournament title. For Zvonareva, that season was the last really bright one – after 2011, Vera was no longer listed in the elite women’s singles category.
