To throw some context on this, the recent Vancouver Olympics revealed that the kontraktniki are not limited to tennis. Many Kazakhstanis who hail from the Russian Federation were prominent in the Winter Games and Elena Khrustaleva won a Silver Medal in the 15km individual biathlon event.

Cheers to Kazakhstan. [H]

 The Barcelona streams have proven a great opportunity to watch Yaroslava. [8-|] Three matches streamed so far and there will be another on Friday--as she has now made the semifinals. She will play Schiavone. Realistically, we saw in Marbella that she's not yet up to Pennetta on clay. But Francesca is not Flavia. She may have beaten Suárez Navarro 64 64, but she took two hours to do it. Come out there underestimating Shvedova and doing some of her screwy stuff, who knows? If Yaroslava takes the first set, bets are off.

Francesca Schiavone vs. Yaroslava Shvedova NB 14.00hrs (12:00 GMT) [13:00 BST-UK] 08:00 EDT-US

Davaiii, Yaroslava!!! [H] ДАВАЙ Ярослава!!!

It's chilly in Barcelona, so you won't see her like this--but still my favorite picture: [H]

Appears WTA can no longer ignore her. [H]

Getting to Know... Yaroslava Shvedova

Tall and blessed with athletic genes, Russian-born Yaroslava Shvedova has been making steady progress on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour of late. Now 22, she won her first Tour singles title at Bangalore in 2007, and the doubles at Pattaya City in early 2009, but the big headlines came at last year's US Open where she saved two match points on her way to upsetting world No.5 Jelena Jankovic in the second round. This year Shvedova, who switched nationality to Kazakhstan in 2008, reached the last 16 at Miami and the semis at Barcelona - results that have her knocking on the door of the Top 30.

We caught up with Yaroslava during last week's Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she was competing on a new career-high ranking of No.34 but fell to No.6 seed Elena Dementieva in the second round.

Tell us about your upbringing.
YS: I was born and raised in Moscow and its suburbs. My mother, Nurzia, was a world champion runner in 100m and my father, Vyacheslav, was her coach. I have an older brother, Pavel, who is 27. He's a journalist.

When did you start playing tennis?
YS: I was four-and-a-half, though I was eight when I became more serious about it. I remember living on the other side of Moscow, about an hour from the tennis courts, and traveling by myself via subway, bus and walking to get there in the middle of winter… We moved out of Moscow for a while, and my dad coached me, but there wasn't any competition for me in the town, so when I was 13, we moved back to Moscow and I started practicing at the Spartak club for two years - living with my brother, who was at university. Then I moved to CSKA club, as they allowed more court time and I could practise against some of the top juniors. When I made the junior national team the Russian Federation also helped me.

What is your coaching situation at present?
YS: My coach is Olivier Vanneste; before him I worked for a while with Tomas Iwanski, the Kazakhstan Fed Cup Coach.

What do you consider you strengths as a player?
YS: My power and my agility.

What would you like to improve upon?
YS: Precision and tactics.

What are your goals for this year?
YS: My goal is to be in the Top 32… to be seeded in Grand Slams!

Best tennis memory?
YS: There are a couple. Winning my first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title at Bangalore in 2007. I was supposed to be playing qualifying but someone pulled out so I moved into the main draw as a lucky loser. Meantime my luggage had been lost by the airline and all I had was my racquets and sneakers. Luckily my bags were found before I had to play my first match, because I had borrowed some oversized men's clothes that didn't really fit! In the semis I played Sania Mirza in a night match with the crowd crazy against me, and I remember being happy that they cheered for me afterwards. When I beat Mara Santangelo in the final I had tears of happiness for the first time in my life. The only problem was that I couldn't stop crying, to the point that they had to delay the ceremony!

Beating Jankovic on Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open last year is also a great memory. Let's say both memories are on the same level!

As a youngster, did you have a tennis idol?
YS: I remember watching Anna Kournikova on TV when I was at home from school, sick, and I also liked watching Amélie Mauresmo because of her one-handed backhand. It's strange because now, I am playing with the same girls that I grew up watching and tried to play like.

What do you like most about being on the Tour?
YS: It's my life, and I am enjoying it so much, travelling to see new places and meeting new people.

Favorite surface?
YS: Hardcourts. That said, my favorite tournaments are Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

One word to describe yourself?
YS: I know it in Russian but I don't know how to say it in English!

What quality do you value most in other people?
YS: Somebody who is caring, and can be a good friend, which is a two-way street.

What do you like to do to relax?
YS: I enjoy photography. At the suggestion of a friend who is a photographer, I bought a good camera in Japan. I love to take pictures, often on site at tournaments, and of course of my friends.

If not tennis…
YS: I cannot live without sports, so for sure I would be playing some kind of sport. When I was growing up, my mom was training with my dad. We didn't have the money for daycare or a babysitter, so they would always take me to the club or stadium where all the other coaches would help watch over me. As I grew older they introduced me to all sorts of sports - basketball, swimming, running, even skiing. I still do a lot of running - it is in my blood.

If you were stuck on a desert island and could only have one luxury with you, what would you want it to be?
YS: My boyfriend! Or maybe some Robbie Williams music.

http://www.sonyericssonw...0,,12781~2047962,00.html

 For the Glorious Nation--for the Union State! [H]

Shvedova def Kleybanova 62 46 60! [:O] Sorry I didn't get up to see this. Condolences to Alisa but [

 For the Glorious Nation--for the Union State! [H]

SHVEDOVA DEF GROTH 64 63 in 1:08. YAROSLAVA HAS MADE the RG QUARTERFINALS!!! [

 For the Glorious Nation--for the Union State! [H]

So Yaroslava lost to JJ 75 64. Shvedova played a quite presentable match. shrapi noted the failures at critical moments and--yes---some of it was bad luck. But we're looking mostly at long & wide errors that call for enhanced control over her own power & ball placement. Get that & she will move quickly into the top ranks.

But look back to where she was a couple of years ago before she took the Contract--and quarterfinalist at the FO ain't bad!

WAIT! There may be another opportunity to see her! YAROSLAVA & JULIAN KNOWLE (AUT) HAVE REACHED THE FINAL IN MIXED DOUBLES. [Y]

ДАВАЙ Ярослава!!! [H]

Day 11: Wednesday, 2 June Court Suzanne Lenglen

14.00hrs CET (13:00 BST) (12:00 GMT) [08:00 EDT]
  Women's Singles - Quarterfinals
  Jelena Jankovic(SRB)[4] vs.   Yaroslava Shvedova(KAZ)
  Men's Singles - Quarterfinals
  Jurgen Melzer(AUT)[22] vs.   Novak Djokovic(SRB)[3]
  Mixed Doubles - Fourth Round
  Vania King(USA) /  Christopher Kas(GER) vs.   Yaroslava Shvedova(KAZ) /  Julian Knowle(AUT)

Eurosport 2 showed the match. Don't expect much of that one on ESPN2. So far, the Yanks have avoided speaking of Yaroslava even one time!  There MIGHT be a stream of her mixed doubles. Check fromsport, etc.

SHVEDOVA DEF GROTH 64 63 in 1:08. YAROSLAVA HAS MADE the RG QUARTERFINALS!!! [

Yaroslava's first Birmingham opponent is Sesil Karatantcheva, Bulgar Kazakhstani! [8-|] If she wins there (likely), Shvedova will play either Rybarikova or Makarova.

Sesil Karatantcheva Biography
As a biography, Sesil Karatantcheva was born on August 8, 1989 in Sofia, Bulgaria. She is 18 years old. Sesil burst on the tennis scene in September 2003 when she was only 14 years old. She had competed in her first professional tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria. That year, she won three ITF titles.

In 2004, she competed in a WTA tournament in Indian Wells, California and defeated Alexandra Stevenson in the first round and beat out 17th seed Magui Serna in the second round. She played against then 16th seed Maria Sharapova, but was beat out in three sets.

Sesil made it to the quarterfinals of a tournament in Gold Coast, Australia in 2005. She qualified for the Australian Open, but lost to Sharapova yet again, this time in the first round. During the French Open in 2005, she beat out #19 seed Shinobu Asagoe in the second round and gained worldwide attention when she beat out Venus Williams in the third round. She beat Emanuelle Gagliardi in the fourth round but lost to Lkhovtseva in the quarterfinals.

It was reported on December 20, 2005 that Sesil had failed a drug test earlier in the year at the French Open. In January 2006, The ITF issued a two year ban on Sesil after two tests came back positive for a steroid, nandrolone. (Claimed the positive result was due to a pregnancy.) 

Returning to the Tour in 2008, she won Fez and soon took the Kazakhstan contract.

 For the Glorious Nation!  

Yaroslava dismissed Parra Santonja 61 62. Her second round match at 's-Hertogenbosch should be especially interesting--against Anastasia Rodionova of Australia.

Russian kontraktnika versus Russian émigrée. [;)]

Centre Court 11.00hrs CET 10:00 BST 09:00 GMT [05:00 EDT]

IMO, it's about the only interesting women's match shown from Holland on Wednesday. Henin will play Vinci in the third match on Centre, but I don't really care.