Analysis for Zvonareva-Schiavone (WTA Beijing)

Head-to-head record 8:0

Francesca Schiavone of Italy will face her Nemesis Vera Zvonareva for the ninth times in her career and believe or not, she hasn’t beaten her yet. Head-to-head record 8-0 is totally one sided but the difference between these two players is definitely not so big. Francesca Schiavone is an experienced player whose career high ranking was World No. 11, achieved in 2006. She has won only one singles title on the WTA tour but has reached eight finals, six of them since the autumn of 2005. Schiavone employs an all court game, similar to of Justine Henin. She regularly slices her backhand, and finds her way to the net and finishes off the point. She also has a strong forehand and dictates with that wing. Schiavone serve is also fairly good. This year, she reached Wimbledon ladies' singles quarterfinals and performed well on latest hard court tournaments as well. In the first round here, she defeated Sabine Lisicki. Vera Zvonareva got easily past Cirstea but her latest results are far from those she reached last year and earlier this year. She is a baseline counterpuncher with good offensive capabilities. She is known for her fitness and speed, owing to her excellent lateral movement, and can therefore outrun many opponents during rallies. Her groundstrokes are powerful and are usually hit very flat, with minimal topspin, though she herself admits that she can adjust her style of play to the court conditions when needed. Her best shot is her two-handed backhand. Zvonareva's primary weakness is her mental fragility, which costs her matches when she self-destructs. Recently, an ankle injury has prevented her from "pushing" her weight forward while serving, resulting in a large number of double faults. Her form is not ideal and even if she plays the opponent she has beaten 8 times in a row, we don’t think it will be the easy match for Russian. We expect a tight match and anything above 3 is worth taking for us.