THE STORY is a familiar one but with a twist. Whereas Maria Sharapova kissed her mother goodbye in Siberia to set off for the United States and a tennis fortune, Varvara Lepchenko did the same in Uzbekistan.
However, Lepchenko went a step further by taking American citizenship and could end former gold medallist Venus Williams’ dream of a place on this summer’s Olympic team.
Lepchenko’s disregard for romanticism in tennis was exemplified when she showed scant regard for Francesca Schiavone’s love affair with Roland Garros. Lepchenko beat the Italian 3-6 6-3 8-6 . Schiavone, who won the French Open in 2010 and reached the final a year ago, will be 32 in a couple of weeks and her hopes of returning to this level must be slim.
Lepchenko, now settled in Pennsylvania with her family, has benefited from the support of Patrick McEnroe at the United States Tennis Association. “I was born and raised in Tashkent,” said the 26-year-old. “When I was 15, I went to play juniors in the US. My dad and sister arrived a week later and we didn’t go back because there was no future for me, no future for my career in Uzbekistan.”
After reaching the last 16 of a major for the first time, she said: “I was trying to stay with Francesca the whole time and she played amazing.”
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Lepchenko has enough ranking points to almost guarantee a place in the American team but could go further and next plays Petra Kvitova, erratic on clay and unsure for much of her 6-2 4-6 6-1 win over Russia’s Nina Bratchikova.
“After I lost in three tight sets at the Australian Open, I was very hungry for more because I knew that I didn’t finish that match,” said Lepchenko. “We had a conversation with Patrick McEnroe, who said: ‘We need more women in the second week of Grand Slams.’ I said: ‘I’ll do that job.’”