So it was quite fitting Tuesday in the first round of the Mercury Insurance Open at La Costa Resort and Spa that she experienced her fair share of both as she battled Dominika Cibulkova, eventually defeating the hard-hitting Slovakian, 6-0, 3-6, 6-4.
This is Zvonareva's first tournament since she made it all the way to the finals of Wimbledon last month as the 21st seed, where she fell to Serena Williams in straight sets as Williams corraled her 13th Grand Slam title. That run allowed Zvonareva to climb to ninth in the world rankings.
"I'm just trying to concentrate on one point, on one match at a time and trying to get my rhythm and trying to find a way to play my best game on the hard courts," Zvonareva said. "There were some ups and downs (against Cibulka), but all in all I was able to pull the match out."
Zvonareva's game and emotions might best be described as mercurial. But when Cibulka was fighting her way back from a 5-2 deficit in the third set with some big forehands, Zvonareva stayed calm, counter-punching and ultimately breaking Cibulka to close out the match.
It ended with Cibulka netting a forehand.
"In the first set, I was able to play a little bit deeper and I was able to not let her dominate the way she did in the second set," Zvonareva said. "And I think my serve got better in the third set and that helped me a lot."
Prior to Wimbledon, Zvonareva, 25, had never made a Grand Slam final. But she won 10 WTA Tour singles titles and the doubles title at the 2006 U.S. Open with Natalie Dechy. The flip side to her game, and emotions, was illustrated in stark relief last year in a U.S. Open loss to Flavia Pennetta, when she earned six match points in the second set, lost them all, and then was blasted 6-0 in the third set.
"I played good tennis," Zvonareva said of that match. "I was just not able to close it out.
"Physically, I just couldn't do what I wanted in that match. I gave it all in the second set."
Next up for third-seeded Zvonareva is Coco Vandeweghe, the 18-year-old who grew up in Rancho Santa Fe and made it through to the second round with a 6-0, 3-0 victory over Gisela Dulko, who retired with a sprained ankle.
Vandeweghe played her way into the main draw with three wins in the qualifying draw.
"This tennis game is a building process," Vandeweghe said. "You've got to work your way up the rankings and that's what I've done."
That process can work in reverse, too.
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