Tamarine topples Zvonareva

Zvonareva

The Thai's win was her ninth consecutive on grass, in a run that included winning the Ordina Open in Holland last week. Tanasugarn was a finalist in the Wimbledon Junior tournament in 1995 and has been a consistent performer at the All England Club ever since, reaching the fourth round six times.

She started the game well, breaking Zvonareva's powerful serve in the first game of the match. She broke again to take a 4-1 first set lead, thanks to some excellent forehand winners. But the Russian, a winner in the ladies' doubles in 2006 with Nathalie Dechy, hit back to force the set into a tie-break. The tie-break went one way and then the other as both players played tremendous tennis. Tanasugarn eventually took it 12-10.

The Thai started the second set just as she did the first. The world No. 60 went 3-0 up but once again Zvonareva hit back. After levelling the set at 3-3, Zvonareva broke again in a lengthy seventh game. The second set saw a drop in quality as both players struggled with their game, not helped by the heat and the gruelling nature of the match. Tanasugarn called for the trainer for treatment on a hamstring injury but was able to continue with heavy strapping.

Zvonareva closed out the set 6-4 but once again Tanasugarn came roaring back, taking a 3-0 lead at the start of the final set. The game became tenser but the experienced 31-year-old Tanasugarn kept her composure better than her opponent, eight years her junior, to win the match in just over two and a half hours.