Zvonareva in the right frame of mind

WIMBLEDON, England

Vera Zvonareva's temperamental fits are the stuff of legend, so much so that for all of her intellectual depth and admirable charitable work, her nicknames refer to her lack of emotional control.

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Among other nicknames, the Russians call her “Verunchik,” which means “crybaby.” In the U.S., she has been tagged as “The Crying Game.”

But there have been no tears of anguish during her strident run to her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon. She's been all business, and eight years into her career she appears to have finally grown up off court and on.

“I always believe in myself. I always know that I can do anything,” she said. “I think it came with experience and I know better how to handle different situations. I don't care what people say. I can break the racket, but it doesn't mean I'm not there in the match. I'm trying all the time. “

Trying yes, but reaching her potential, no. Zvonareva has been an excellent player since 2003, coming up with Russians Anastasia Myskina, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva, all of whom have had much more success than she has at the bigger events. She actually reached the quarters of the French Open in 2003 and cracked the top 10 briefly back in 2004. She has taken countless tough three-set losses, to Kim Clijsters and Dementieva at the U.S. Open, to Nadia Petrova, Maria Sharapova and Mary Pierce in Paris.

She's won 10 singles titles, but didn't win her first Tier I crown until 2009 at Indian Wells. She's reached another 12 finals, many of them at the Tier II level or above, but couldn't come through. She was chock full of potential, but didn't manage her game or her career well enough.

But unlike some players who lose their minds on court consistently and ultimately go away (like Nicole Vaidisova), Zvonareva has been able to dispense of pieces of hers and keep her head largely on her shoulders. Certainly, she had slumps, but since the now 25-year-old cracked the top 50 in 2002, she's mostly been a top 25 player and during the last two years, when she hasn't been off rehabbing from injuries, she's been a solid top 10 player.

Vera Zvonareva has had her share of emotional meltdowns over the years.

Jim McIsaac

On Thursday in the Wimbledon semis, she withstood a hard charge form the creative Tsvetana Pironkova and played a forceful and collected match in dispatching the Bulgarian 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. She didn't panic or put her head down like she did the last time she reached a major semifinal at the 2009 Australian Open, when she lacked firepower and focus in a loss to Dinara Safina. She changed her strategy, yanked Pironkova out wide and nullified the Bulgarian's junkballing by coming to the net more.

“Even though I had a couple bad losses at the French Open and then Eastbourne I lost first round, I thought I was playing already much better tennis, and I knew I just had to keep working hard,” said the Russian. “I knew the few things that I have to improve. I was trying to go on the court and try to bring it out of myself. And if it wouldn't work that day, it wouldn't work. But I just knew I had to keep going for my shots.”

Zvonareva's meltdowns have been enjoyable if you prefer to watch train wrecks. Numerous players can tell tales of watching Vera break down on the sidelines and are amazed that she can get off her chair and then rip a winner.

Here are four incidents that wet the whistle. The first occurred in August of 2004 in San Diego against Myskina, when she cracked her racket again and again, launched balls over the clubhouse and wept liberally while her countrywoman fought off nine match points and pulled off a remarkable 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (15) win. A month later at the U.S. Open, she spent most of the last two sets of her loss to Dementieva crying on the changeovers.

Her most notable and somewhat frightening explosion came at the 2009 U.S. Open in a 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-0 defeat to Flavia Pennetta. After the second set went away, Zvonareva completely lost it, tearing at the bandages on her knees, leaving pieces of them all over the court and dropping three F-bombs on the chair umpire. She also clubbed the side of her head again and again with her right hand.

“She's always like this,” said Pennetta. “I know her. She can cry on the court, and then next point she fight and she play good tennis.”

Her fourth meltdown of note came in April of 2010 in the Charleston final against Sam Stosur while she was being overpowered. There, she bent her racket into a pretzel and eventually kicked it into a chair, which became a YouTube classic.

But she never completely gave in, and off court, she did attempt to find peace with herself. There was no way she was going to be able to reach a major final if she couldn't at least occasionally calm her nerves.

“I've been in a lot of different situations in my career, and I think I know how to turn the matches around much better now,” said Zvonareva., who also knocked U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters out at Wimbledon. ”Even if something is not working, I know in my head that I just have to take it one point at a time and just keep trying.”

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Zvonareva — who is currently studying international economics at a Moscow university — also needed to clear up her coaching situation before she could feel comfortable on court. At the end of last year, her coach, Sam Sumyk, left her to coach Victoria Azarenka. Zvonareva then hired Azarenka's ex-coach Antonio Van Grichen. The situation didn't work as earlier this year when Zvonareva faced Azarenka she felt extremely uncomfortable and took bad losses. Van Grichen was sent packing in March, she went coach-less for a while and now is working with her former mixed doubles partner from the juniors, Sergey Demekhin.

Zvonareva is at ease with Demekhin, and she had better be as her foe in the final will be none other than three-time champion Serena Williams, who hasn't dropped a set in the tournament. Serena is 5-1 against the Russia, who only managed to scratch out one win against her in Cincinnati in 2006. Zvonareva did play Serena tough in their last two clashes at the 2007 U.S. Open and 2008 Charleston, but she'll be the underdog in the match.

The Russian has a shot to win, but only if she plays near perfectly. Her speed and backhand are her great strengths and she has to turn around points quickly. There is no way she can beat Serena on grass without getting a very high percentage of first serves and doing something with nearly every one of Serena's second serves, as Williams has bombed in 80 aces in the tournament and has a huge edge in that category. She'll have to be creative and also as mentally tough as she's ever been.

“I always believe in myself,” Zvonareva said. “I don't care about what everyone says. I'll just have to go out there on the court and try to play my best tennis. I know if I play my best tennis I can beat anyone on the other side of the net.”