Tsvetana Pironkova’s hotel bills look set to increase several fold in the coming years, but the Bulgarian will not mind if that is the only drawback after her astonishing run at the All England Club was halted.
For Pironkova, who came within a set of becoming the first unseeded woman to reach the Wimbledon final, was expecting her stay to be far shorter than the shock-filled odyssey that the last week or so has produced.
So unexpected was her run to the semi-finals, where she went down 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to Russian 21st seed Vera Zvonareva on Thursday, that she was at one point struggling to find a roof over her head.
“I was really worried at one point,” the 22-year-old told reporters. “After my second match I left my hotel and there was no place that I could stay because the hotels at this time of the year are very busy.”
Fortunately help was at hand for the player with a ferocious double-handed backhand that saw off five-times champion Venus Williams here in the quarter-finals in the shape of the President of the Bulgarian Tennis Federation.
“He called the embassy here. They were really kind and supportive. They said, of course, no problem and gave us an apartment in one beautiful area here in London, South Kensington I think it’s called,” she said.
Her losing semi-finalist’s cheque of £250,000 (US$380,000) will be more than enough to cover the £6,500 required to rent an apartment in such a swanky part of London for a week, and she showed more than enough promise to suggest she should be looking for better hotel rooms, for longer, in the coming years.
Pironkova, who became the first Bulgarian to reach a major semi-final, took the first set in style against her Russian opponent on Thursday before fading as Zvonareva’s confidence grew.
“I tried my best. I tried every point, every game but she was playing very aggressive and she was pushing me all the time, and I just couldn’t do it,” Pironkova said.
“Reaching the semi-finals in Wimbledon, it’s like a dream to me. Of course I wanted to go to the finals, but I guess didn’t happen this year.
“I’m really happy that I make my home people happy, because this is a great success for my country, for Bulgarian tennis.”
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