{"id":4736,"date":"2010-09-11T19:03:22","date_gmt":"2010-09-11T23:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=4736"},"modified":"2018-12-06T16:33:31","modified_gmt":"2018-12-06T21:33:31","slug":"a-win-is-a-just-win-a-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2010\/09\/11\/a-win-is-a-just-win-a-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"A Win is Just a Win.  A Loss&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A win is just a win.\u00a0But a loss\u2014a loss can be pain. When Vera Zvonareva was defeated by Flavia Pennetta in the fourth round of the Open last year, she suffered, and it was real suffering.\u00a0She had six match points in the second set and converted none.\u00a0That\u2019s when the fear set in, and the doubt. She cried on the court. She pulled off the tape wrapped around her knees.\u00a0She begged the chair umpire for scissors to cut the tape and then cursed at him when he denied her. She cursed and screamed, she fell, she beat her bleeding legs. Her grunts were howls.\u00a0She smashed her racket into the net post. She paced and paced.\u00a0When she sat in her chair during the changeover, she put a towel over her head.\u00a0She wanted to disappear.\u00a0She wanted not to lose.\u00a0She lost the third set 6-0.<\/p>\n<p>Now, Vera Zvonareva is about to face Kim Clijsters in the final of this year\u2019s U.S. Open.\u00a0So far, Zvonareva has been the picture of poise. The wind? No problem. The no. 1 seed, Caroline Wozniacki? An easy victory, in a quick 85 minutes. While the stars have showed off their florescent hotpants and specially-designed dresses, Zvonareva has been wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, as if the matches were no big deal, only warm ups. She\u2019s letting opponents beat themselves, playing high-percentage shots while they rack up errors. \u201cI know I\u2019m not going to play perfect tennis all the time,\u201d she said after her win yesterday.\u00a0She just wants to play well enough to win.<\/p>\n<p>This is admirable maturity.\u00a0And yet, in my little warped heart, I can\u2019t help but hope to see some flicker of fear in her eyes tonight.\u00a0Not because I want her to lose\u2014I want her to win.\u00a0And not because she doesn\u2019t belong out there, because she does.\u00a0She was a finalist at Wimbledon; she&#8217;s a big hitter and an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2010\/08\/30\/rooting-for-muscles\/\">extraordinary physical specimen<\/a>.\u00a0 I want to see the fear because that fear is honest.\u00a0She <em>is<\/em> afraid, no matter what she says in those post-game press conferences.\u00a0She has to be.\u00a0She is facing the defending champion.\u00a0Everyone will be watching her for some sign of cracking. It&#8217;s human, that fear.\u00a0One second, everything is going right.\u00a0The next, you\u2019re in tears.\u00a0And there\u2019s nowhere to hide from your failure.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ll be cheering for her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A win is just a win.\u00a0But a loss\u2014a loss can be pain. When Vera Zvonareva was defeated by Flavia Pennetta in the fourth round of the Open last year, she suffered, and it was real suffering.\u00a0She had six match points in the second set and converted none.\u00a0That\u2019s when the fear set in, and the doubt. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[931],"tags":[802,804,85,288,729,801,803],"class_list":["post-4736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-on-sports","tag-kim-clijsters","tag-poise","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-u-s-open","tag-vera-zvonarera","tag-womens-finals"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Win is Just a Win. A Loss... by Louisa Thomas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"September 11, 2010 \u2013 A win is just a win.\u00a0But a loss\u2014a loss can be pain. 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