Tennis

Wimbledon women show life beyond Williams

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-06-29 17:37

Maria Sharapova of Russia celebrates defeating Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in their quarter-final match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, June 28, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic reacts after defeating Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria in their quarter-final match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, June 28, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

LONDON - Fans turning up for the Wimbledon women's quarter-finals might have been forgiven for feeling a little short-changed by Tuesday's lineup yet the action served up by some of the sport's lesser lights was undoubtedly worth the ticket.

It was the first time in 98 years that the last eight had been an all-European affair and with Serena and Venus Williams both knocked out in the fourth round a few of the remaining players were not exactly household names.

Maria Sharapova, Wimbledon champion in 2004, was the only one with a grand slam title to her name and 2007 Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli was the only other player to have reached a final.

Amid the clutch of eastern Europeans still involved were Slovak Dominika Cibulkova and Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova, who have earned almost $4 million in prize money between them without ever winning a ranking tournament.

However, for the players involved it was obviously a huge opportunity and, for the most part, they provided rich entertainment.

Of course, had the Williams sisters returned from their lengthy layoffs and gone on to contest the final again there would have been widespread complaints about the lack of quality in the women's game.