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Zvonareva loses twice in a day

London - Vera Zvonareva was left distraught and broke down in tears on court after losing two Wimbledon finals in one day on Saturday.

The Russian, who was outplayed by Serena Williams in the singles final, later lost in the ladies' doubles final, again in straight sets.

Zvonareva cried after she and compatriot Elena Vesnina lost to Vania King of the United States and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 7-6 (8/6), 6-2.

She began crying after losing the first set tie-break, burying her head in her towel as Vesnina tried to comfort her, and did the same after losing the match.

Throughout her career, Zvonareva, 25, has been dogged by doubts about her temperament after crumbling under pressure in big matches.

And though she held it together against Williams, she fell apart here.

She was the sixth woman in the last 20 years to reach the Wimbledon singles and doubles finals in the same year.

Besides Venus and Serena Williams, the others were Lindsay Davenport, Jana Novotna and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

But only Novotna in 1993 had previously lost both.

Zvonareva and Vesnina knocked out defending champions Venus and Serena Williams in the quarter-finals, handing the sisters their first defeat this year, with the pair having won the Australian, Madrid and French Open titles.

This tournament was the first that Vesnina and Zvonareva have played together since the 2008 US Open.

Shvedova is the first player from Kazakhstan to win a Wimbledon title. It was only the third tournament she has played together with King.

Since seeding began at Wimbledon in 1927, they are only the fifth unseeded pair to claim the title.

The final was only the third in Wimbledon history, and the first since 1975, to feature two unseeded pairings.

Shvedova and King conceded a bizarre point in the tie-break, when a fierce blast from Vesnina got the faintest of flicks from Shvedova's ponytail on its way out of the court.

Zvonareva said she was playing the doubles partly to help her singles campaign.

"I haven't played enough matches on the grass before I came here. That's why I wanted to play doubles as well," Zvonareva said.

"Also, here you have to be a little bit quicker in doubles. You have to use more volleys. You have to come into the net. This week it helped me a little bit in the singles."

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