TENNIS RG14 – Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2009 French Open champion, may have been overlooked as a possible contender during the first week of this year’s French Open. However, now that the second week is well on its way and she is still alive, the odds of her making her 3rd finals and possibly getting a 2nd title here have greatly increased. Cordell Hackshaw
Interviews, Results, OOP, Draws from the Roland Garros
Svetlana Kuznetsova (27), the 2009 French Open champion, may have been overlooked as a possible contender during the first week of this year’s French Open. However, now that the second week is well on its way and she is still alive, the odds of her making her 3rd finals and possibly getting a 2nd title here have greatly increased. Kuznetsova took out a dangerous player Lucie Safarova (23) in straight sets 6-3 6-4 with none of the dramatics and fanfare as in her previous round encounter with Petra Kvitova (5). Kuznetsova was business-like and highly efficient on court today and is now through to her 7th quarterfinal appearance in Paris. For her, Roland Garros is “One of the most important tournaments of my life.”
From the onset, Kuznetsova was pressing the issue knowing how well Safarova has been playing lately. She broke early for a 2-1 lead but Safarova broke back at 2-2. Kuznetsova held serve and continued to force the issue and broke again for a 4-2 lead. Kuznetsova again put herself out front 5-3 forcing Safarova to serve to stay in the set. Safarova was unable to hold serve and thus dropped the opening set 3-6 in 34 minutes.
In the 2nd set, things were far more competitive. Kuznetsova not wanting to have another marathon match against another Czech left-handed player, soon had break point for a 4-0 lead. Safarova realizing that such a lead would be insurmountable; she became far less erratic and worked her way back into the match. She broke Kuznetsova twice and held serve to be even at 4-4. However, Kuznetsova was going to be denied a straight sets victory. She held serve and broke Safarova for the 6th time in the match to take it 6-3 6-4.
This is a most disappointing result for Safarova and her fans. She has been playing so well this year particularly in the clay court season. She took out the 11th seed Ana Ivanovic in the 3rd round and many thought she would have at least been far more competitive in this matchup with Kuznetsova. However, the superior defensive skills as well as grand slam experience of the Russian proved to be too much for the Czech. Her serve, ordinarily a weapon on court, was a serious liability. Safarova was only able to win 52% of the points on her 1st serve despite putting 72% of them in. She won 39% on her 2nd serve. Kuznetsova was winning 58% on her 1st serve and 47% on her 2nd serve.
In the quarterfinals, Kuznetsova will play Simona Halep (4) who took out Sloane Stephens (15) 6-4 6-3. This will be their third meeting having split the previous two matches. Kuznetsova spoke about the matchup, “Well, I think she’s very good player….Tough one to play because she plays very good…Doesn’t matter who win last or whatever. It’s going to be new match in Grand Slam quarterfinals. It’s going to be amazing, difficult, and exciting to play with her. It’s going to be very difficult match.”
