Welcome to Wimbledon Flashbacks, where wtatennis.com will take a look at some of the most memorable stories from The Championships in the past 20 years. After recapitulating The best battles in Birmingham is excellent Eastbourne meetings, our retrospective heads for the SW19 meadows. Next is a summary of Tsvetana Pironkova’s Wimbledon exploits, which had an extraordinary run to the bottom four in 2010 – and followed it with a quarterfinal effort the following year in an exciting sequel.
For more classic moments, check out our other Wimbledon flashbacks:
1999: The Dokic qualifier sends the best seed Hingis to the stunner in the first round
1999: Stevenson drops Raymond into the 1999 American thriller
2003: Navratilova shows her class at 46 to win the 20 title alongside Paes
2005: Venus, Davenport vie for the classic clash in the fascinating 2005 finale
2009: Safina, Mauresmo christens the roof of the Center Court with the epic of Manic Monday
2012: Immaculate Shvedova unlocks the historic gold set
2013: Lisicki’s upset peak reaches the 2013 Wimbledon final
2015: Hingis, Mirza dominates Wimbledon in the historical triumph
2017: Rybarikova’s return stuns Pliskova in 2017 to Cinderella
2019: From qualifying to Center Court, Gauff’s star rises to SW19
THE MOMENT: They say the sequels aren’t as beautiful as the original, but for Tsvetana Prionkova, the 2010 and 2011 Wimbledon championships are equally important in his career.
Having made his WTA debut in 2005, Pironkova earned international recognition for the first time with a dramatic 2–6, 6–0, 9–7 win against Venus Williams in the 2006 Australian Open first round, while was classified at no. but he entered Wimbledon in 2010 as an astute 22 year old who has not yet anticipated the second round of a Grand Slam.
With a 1-4 career record at Wimbledon, but armed with great service, a world-class two-handed backhand and a willingness to employ a delicate slice, Pironkova continued to overturn performance in the lead: without losing a set in five games, the Bulgarian is the author of an extraordinary race in the semifinals while he classified at n. 82 of the world.
After beating a trio of Russians – Anna Lapushchenkova, Vera Dushevina and Regina Kulikova – to reach the round of 16, Pironkova shocked the ex finalist and future champion Marion Bartoli to organize a meeting with the favorite of the title and the seed number 2 Williams in the past eight.
From start to finish in the last eight games, Pironkova dominated – breaking Williams’ serve three times and waving the seven-time Grand Slam champion in a barrage of unforced errors – to win the game, 6-2, 6-3 and advance to the final four.
And alongside the famous victory came an all-time soundbite: with journalists probing the beginning of its origins in tennis after the game, Pironkova revealed that there were no grass fields in the country of Bulgaria.
“So, I thought, ‘Wow, it’s impossible. How can I play on this surface?'”, He remembered his Wimbledon debut in 2005. “But with every game I play on the grass I always feel better.
“Wimbledon has always been like a religion for me. And I don’t think it’s just for me. I think it’s for all players.
“Coming here, I really just wanted to play a good game, maybe to win or two rounds … This really is like a dream for me, and I will try to have as much fun as possible.”
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In the next round, Pironkova even found herself one step away from an all-time Cinderella story, while capturing the first set against seed No.2 Vera Zvonareva on Center Court in the semifinals.
The Russian eventually rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win to reach his first inaugural final, but Pironkova had however noticed that it would be an impending threat to the best of the game in the seasons to come, especially on the grass.
THE MEANING: By virtue of her run in 2010, Pironkova became the first Bulgarian player to progress so much in a Grand Slam in nearly 20 years – since Manuela Maleeva did it at the US Open in 1992 and 1993.
Next to Petra Kvitova, who was ranked number 63 in the tournament and lost to champion Serena Williams in the past four, the pair was the first unpublished pair to reach the round since 1999.
With the pressure of 12 months after recovering some of the points on the chart from its decisive turn, Pironkova’s second act was almost as good as his first.
To find out more: Kerber, Lisicki, Cibulkova bring the fire of the fourth round with epic battles
Seeded No.32, the right corner has again steamed through the first four rounds without losing a set. He demanded some revenge on his previous year’s semifinal conqueror, the now No.2 seed Zvonareva, 6-2, 6-3, before defeating Williams again in an almost identical performance, 6-2, 6-3 .
“I’d say I played better than last year. But I think [Venus] started very well. I think it started the game very well, but I kept pushing it, “said Pironkova.
“It certainly helps that I’ve played with her before. And the thing that I won her last year also helps. I couldn’t say I know how to play because every time it’s different.
“I don’t go on the pitch with a strategy in mind. When I go on the pitch, I see what works, what doesn’t work and I try to play in the best possible way.”
Pironkova has been defeated in the last eight by Kvitova, the seed n. 8 and the eventual champion, in an electrifying three setters, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2, – with the two arriving at the starting point without seeing surprises for the bona fide contenders.
In the following seasons, the Bulgarian continued to outperform his ranking on the biggest stages of the game, both at the All-England Club and otherwise.
She reached the fourth round of the US Open in 2012, returned to Wimbledon’s second week in 2013 and won her first WTA single title at the Premier event in Sydney in 2014 as a qualifier, beating three Top 10 players on the way.
Her deepest Grand Slam run in the following years didn’t come to British lawns, but to Paris’ red clay when she reached the quarterfinals in 2016. Ranked out of the Top 100, Pironkova scored four wins, the most dramatic of which he came across in seed no. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska in the round of 16. Trailing 6-3, 3-0, Pironkova came from behind – and passed two rainy days – to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
But following a second round loss to Wimbledon in 2017 to Caroline Wozniacki, Pironkova was sidelined indefinitely with a shoulder injury before giving birth to a son two years ago – but that the hiatus might be interrupted when the tour will resume.
Earlier this year, the 32 year old has gone on social media to announce its intentions to return to competitive tennis.
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