Vania King, Yaroslava Shvedova Win U.S. Open Doubles Title

Chinese American Vania King and partner Yaroslava Shvedova upset one of the world’s top women’s doubles teams 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) for the U.S. Open Women’s doubles championship.

The finals match against the No. 2-seeded team of Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova began Sunday afternoon at Arthur Ashe Stadium but was cut short by a squall in the third set with King-Shvedova trailing 4-5 and the game score at 0-15 with King serving. The match was concluded Monday afternoon in a tiebreak when Shvedova’s lob looped over the heads of Petrova and Huber to land just inside the baseline.

“After Wimbledon we did not know if we could do it again,” King said after the match, “but now we proved that we can.”

King, 21, and Shedova, 23, who were ranked 6th at the U.S. Open, had played just six tournaments together prior to the U.S. Open. Their first championship came at this year’s Wimbledon when they defeated Vera Zvonareva and Elena Vesnina 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 in a surprise win.

Vania King was born in Monterey Park, California. She was introduced to tennis at the age of four by her father David. She attended Long Beach Poly High. She turned pro in July of 2006. She currently splits her time between Long Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida where she is coached by Tarik Benhabiles, Andy Roddick’s first coach. King stands 5-5 and weighs 130 pounds. She is known in tennis circles for her singing ability after singing the national anthem at Dodgers Stadium and the U.S. Open.

LOS ANGELES