page_title: Tsvetana Pironkova
section_title: Playing style
hierarchical_section_title: Tsvetana Pironkova / Playing style
caption_attribution_description: Aegon International Tennis, Devonshire Park, Eastbourne June 2015
context_page_description: Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. She was the highest ranked Bulgarian tennis player for more than a decade. Pironkova is considered to be one of the best grass court players of her generation and has been noted for her "cerebral" skills on the surface. Dubbed as a dramatic ranking phenomenon by media outlets, she is also known for upstaging higher ranked opponents at Grand Slam tournaments.
  Pironkova started playing tennis at the age of four on being introduced to the sport by her father. She made her WTA Tour debut at the İstanbul Cup in 2005, and achieved moderate success earlier in her career. That changed in 2010, when she entered Wimbledon with a 1–4 career record at the event, and went on reach the semifinals of the tournament, becoming just the second Bulgarian tennis player in history to reach the semifinal stage of a Grand Slam in singles. She garnered wide recognition for her performance, and after her semifinal finish reached her highest singles ranking at No. 31 in September 2010. Pironkova followed it up with a quarterfinal run at the event the following year, earning her the nickname "The Wimbledon Darkhorse".
context_section_description: Pironkova plays right-handed, and uses a double-handed backhand. She prefers fast surfaces, with grass being her favourite. She has had some of her best results on grass, a Wimbledon semifinal and quarterfinal, which earned her the nickname "The Wimbledon Darkhorse". Although she has a powerful first serve that consistently measures up to 180 kmph or 110 mph, she has a relatively weaker second serve. Pironkova is noted for her powerful backhand, with the down-the-line backhand being one of her best shots. However, her forehand–albeit reliable, has been variously described as "bizarre" and "clever", owing to the unusual amount of spin and/or slice on the shot. The Daily Telegraph commentator Emily Benammar noted in 2010 that if Pironkova's, "forehand comes up to scratch, she's in with a chance of beating the best".
  Overall, Pironkova does not rely heavily upon her groundstrokes, but is instead noted for her stroke-play, variety of shots and intelligent use of the court and its geometry. She is also known for her squash-shot forehand and for incorporating flat and slice shots into rallies from her forehand and backhand sides. Pironkova varies the length of her shots and often draws her opponent forward with short balls to set up passing shots. She also makes her opponents more around the court by making use of deep cross-court groundstrokes to keep them off balance. Pironkova admittedly prefers shorter rallies, and looks for winners early in the point which at times leads to unforced errors. She told the freelance tennis writer Matt Trollope that she played mostly on clay courts early in her career and that the aggressive style developed "pretty naturally" during her formative years.
  Pironkova's style of play has drawn comparisons with such players as Belgian Justine Henin. Sports columnist Simon Briggs elaborated on the similarity in the styles noting that Pironkova's court craft and tactical nous made her capable of "reflecting the Williams sisters' own power back against them". Pironkova has also been praised for her fast movement on the tennis court by such commentators as Briggs, who was impressed by her "nimble" footwork at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. Pironkova thought of her movement on the grass courts as her best among all the surfaces. She also ascribed the optimum ball bounce on the grass as it is "probably just perfect for [my] timing". Having been praised for her range of shots and strokeplay, Pironkova said that she developed a spontaneous approach towards her shot selection and overall game as she matured.
caption: Pironkova prefers her backhand side for groundstrokes
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