The Hindu : Sport : Kuznetsova cruises to women’s title

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 07, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport

Kuznetsova cruises to women’s title

Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy pair wins men’s doubles crown

— Photos: AFP

WORTHY CHAMPIONS: Svetlana Kuznetsova receives the ‘Coupe Suzanne Lenglen’ from Steffi Graf, while Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy strike a pose with the men’s doubles trophy.

PARIS: Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-2 in an all-Russian final of the French Open on Saturday to take away her second Grand Slam title.

It was a comprehensive win for the 23-year-old seventh seed who lost in the final here in 2006 to Justine Henin two years after she stunned the world of tennis by winning the U.S. Open as a 19-year-old.

Later, India’s Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic won the men’s doubles title with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Belgium’s Dick Norman.

Impressive collection

It was 35-year-old Paes’s fifth men’s Grand Slam doubles title having won twice here in 1999 and 2001 with Mahesh Bhupathi, 1999 Wimbledon with Bhupathi and the 2006 U.S. Open with Martin Damm. The Indian also has four Grand Slam mixed doubles crowns.

“Dick and Wesley served really huge and made it difficult for us. They did a great job in getting to the final,” said Paes who has now won 40 career doubles titles.

Paes and Dlouhy first teamed up at Roland Garros last year, losing in the last 16 to eventual champion Pablo Cuevas and Luis Horna. They then finished runner-up to Mike and Bob Bryan in the 2008 U.S. Open final.

“We started playing together at Roland Garros last year. We lost then to the champions so we made it a point that we would come back and try and win it this year,” added Paes.

For Safina it was a crushing way to end a two-week-long campaign geared at securing a first Grand Slam title and proving that she is a worthy of the world No.1 spot.

It was the second straight year she has lost in the final here going down in straight sets to Ana Ivanovic of Serbia last year and her second successive Grand Slam final defeat having lost to Serena Williams in Melbourne this year.

Long wait

“It was so many years since I won a Grand Slam and I thought it would never happen again,” Kuznetsova said.

“Today when I was coming onto the court I knew everything was going to be fine. It was the same as before when I won the U.S. Open.”

Memorable meeting

“I’ve been watching her for very long, but I’ve never met her,” Kuznetsova said about six-time champion Steffi Graf, who presented the trophy.

“So today I got in the locker room, and first thing I saw her, and I got red and I said, ‘Hi, I’ve never met you.’ She wished me good luck. Its special she gives me the trophy.”

With conditons cold, damp and overcast and the Court Philippe Chatrier three-quarters full, Safina was quickest out of the blocks breaking Kuznetsova to 15. But the younger of the two 23-year-olds surrendered that advantage immediately with a nervy service game.

Safina was in trouble on serve again at 2-3 down when a double fault and a deft Kuznetsova drop shot left her at 0-30, but she came out on top of a marathon rally and then took the next three points to level the score.

Flat-footed

Two games later though and on the back of another double fault, the Muscovite went 0-40 down.

She saved the first two of those breakpoints but was left flat-footed by a raking Kuznetsova backhand drive on the third.

The St. Petersburg-born player, however, failed to cash in, dropping her serve for the second time in the next game.

That mattered little though as she struck again in the following game, staggering Safina by running round her backhand to hit an outright winner and then forcing the World No.1 into slapping a forehand into the net.

Kuznetsova held serve to open the second set and Safina was beginning to berate herself for allowing her smaller and less powerful rival for the crown to dominate most of their rallies. Games went with serve until the sixth game when a sixth double fault gave Kuznetsova the edge and she broke for the fourth time in the match shortly after when Safina blasted a forehand wide and long.

Kuznetsova held serve to make it 5-2 and then her pressure on the Safina serve paid dividends again with a seventh double fault on match point.

It was all over in 74 minutes and was the eighth consecutive straight sets women’s final at Roland Garros.

Pressure

Safina said that she had put too much pressure on herself as she had wanted to win so much.

“I just didn’t handle it. I was a little bit desperate on the court. I didn’t stay tough mentally.

“She gave me chances and was not as aggressive as she usually is. I just didn’t do anything. I lost the match myself,” said Safina. — Agencies

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport