Vera Zvonareva of Russia handled the game well despite the weather, emerging the victor against defending champion, Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. The two European sports stars fought the battle Sunday, when Zvonareva braved the winds, steadied her game and eventually won, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
It’s a double win for the 24-year-old Russian, who also won the doubles title with Victoria Azarenka the previous day, whom she faced and beaten in the semis. Her victory made Zvonareva a significant name in tennis history, being one of the only two female athletes to win both the singles and the doubles titles in the same year at Indian Wells. The first one to do this was Lindsay Davenport, who earned the distinction twice, in 1997 and 2000. It is Zvonareva,’s ninth career singles title and her second triumph this year, placing her in equal footing with Ivanovic, the stats pegged at 4-4.
The event seemed to be the deciding factor for either players to be listed in record books, Ivanovic, last year’s French Open champion, also aimed to be the second female tennis athlete to earn the Indian Wells championship the second time; trailing after Martina Navratilova, who won the title two consecutive years, 1990 and 1991.