Zvonareva Sparkles in Acura Classic Debut

Nineteen-year-old Vera Zvonareva, one of Russia’s rising stars, was successful in her Acura Classic debut as she defeated Nathalie Dechy of France, 6-4, 7-6 (4) in a first-round match, which took one-hour and 35 minutes.

On a cool, breezy day on Stadium Court, the 12th seeded Russian won the first set as she broke Dechy’s serve to take a 5-4 lead. Despite hitting two faults, Zvonareva went on to serve out the set.

Dechy staged a comeback and broke Zvonareva twice to build a 5-2 second-set lead. The Frenchwoman was unable to serve out the set at 5-3 as Zvonareva smacked a forehand crosscourt winner on break point to make the score 5-4.

After easily holding serve, the Russian broke Dechy again to take a 6-5 lead. She wasted the opportunity to serve out the second set as Dechy took advantage of four straight Zvonareva errors to break serve at love and send the set to a tiebreaker.

Zvonareva fell behind 5-3 in the tiebreak, but reeled off four straight points and won the match when Dechy’s forehand clipped the tape and fell wide.

“It was a really tough match for me,” Zvonareva said. “First round in a tournament is always tough to play. I expected a tough match. My game is improving, especially when you play lots of matches against the top players.”

• Zvonareva’s 2004 match record improves to 33-14.
• Zvonareva is ranked 15 in the world.
• Zvonareva now leads Dechy 2-1 in career head-to-head meetings.
• Zvonareva advances to a second-round match against Maria Sanchez Lorenzo of Spain.
• Zvonareva, a member of the Russian Fed Cup team, is one of eight Russians in the 2004 Acura Classic main draw.
• Dechy’s 2004 match record is now 22-15.
• Dechy was making her fifth Acura Classic appearance. She reached the second round here in 2000 and 2002.
• Dechy will represent France in the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
• Dechy is ranked 28 in the world.
  

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