French Open - Kuznetsova wins French Open

Eurosport - Sun, 07 Jun 20:01:00 2009

Seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova won her first French Open title when she beat world number one and fellow Russian Dinara Safina 6-4 6-2.

Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova kisses the trophy after she defeated compatriot Dinara Safina during the women's singles final of the French Open AP - 0

Kuznetsova made a nervous start to the match but quickly recovered to win her second Grand Slam title when Safina double faulted on her opponent's first championship point.

"Today, when I was coming out on court I knew that everything would be alright," said Kuznetsova, winner of the 2004 US Open. "I was pretty calmed down.

"(Safina) is better than me at the moment, she is the world number one, but she was too tight."

The world number seven looked like she might crumble under the pressure at the start of the match when she dropped her opening service game to 15 after dumping a backhand into the net.

But Safina, who has now lost three Grand Slam finals, also struggled with her serve in the opening games, allowing Kuznetsova to break back immediately.

Following the early exchange of breaks, Kuznetsova slowly grabbed control of the match and broke for a second time in the eighth game with a backhand winner.

Safina broke back to love in the very next game, when Kuznetsova failed to find the court with consecutive backhands, but the older of the two Russians quickly recovered her composure and took the set at the first opportunity when Safina hit a forehand into the net.

Kuznetsova, the only player to have beaten Safina on clay this year, had to survive a step up in Safina's level of play early in the second set and did well to prevent the world number one earning any break points.

But with Kuznetsova withstanding the pressure, Safina became increasingly desperate to overpower her smaller opponent, causing unforced errors to flow more frequently.

A sixth double fault from the world number one in the seventh game gave Kuznetsova advantage and she broke for the fourth time in the match shortly after when Safina slapped a forehand down the line wide and long.

Kuznetsova consolidated the break in the next game by holding to 30 and wrapped up the win in the next game when Safina's serve broke down yet again.

It was the second straight year Safina had lost the final in Paris - she was beaten by Ana Ivanovic last year - and a second successive Grand Slam final defeat following her loss to Serena Williams in the Australian Open final in February.

"I am in the same situation as last year," Safina said. "Hopefully one day I can win here."

Pippa Davis / Eurosport

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  1. Hold on Dinara! By the time you retire from tennis,­ you'll have won just as many grand slams as did­ Kournikova.Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah­ ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah­ ah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From P. E, on Sun 7 Jun 6:09PM

  2. I disagree that saying someone is not "no 1­ material" when they are no 1 is a contradiction.­ there is a ranking system so by definition someone will­ be no 1, yes. but "no 1 material" at least­ the way i would use it is a bit ephemeral in that it­ refers not to winning the most tournaments (be those­ grandslams or others) or being the most consistent but­ more a sense of bearing, a self confidence, a quiet­ knowledge the player simply excudes that she or he is­ the best. that's what I mean by no 1 material and­ that's why i have said that there is no woman­ tennis player out there right now that is of that­ caliber.

    From TransInc, on Sun 7 Jun 5:15PM

  3. Good question cameron w! It simply means that Safina is­ the official no.1 player but she can not win a grand­ slam like a no. 1 players should....that's what he­ means about 'not a no.1 material. Hope u understand­ now.

    From Chukwuemeka, on Sun 7 Jun 5:14PM

  4. Excuse me but, and i quote, 'He­ simply said that­ she is not a number one player­ material'!
    How on­ earth can somebody be OFFICIALLY ranked World­ Number-ONE, and yet be considered 'not a number one­ player­ material'!
    It is a contradiction of­ enormous magnitute!!!
    I can see i am getting absolutely­ nowhere with this; i am open minded, and i am willing­ to look at things from every angle; unlike some people­ on here, i do not let my personal preferences disguise­ the blunt facts!
    Can i quote you one last time Smoke­ P?
    . . . . 'i temporarily lowered my level to­­ accomodated you',
    yup, that just about sums­ you up that does . . . . . a sore loser - hmmm, i know­ someone else like that!!!
    I am moving on now, thank you­ kindly for 'accomodateding' me!!!!!! By the­ way, how do you know what my level is; are you­ questioning my social class Smoke P, that's a bit­ like name-calling that is!
    Just remember,
    DINARA­ SAFINA IS OFFICIALLY THE NUMBER-ONE WOMEN'S TENNIS­ PLAYER IN THE WORLD, whether she is 'worthy' or­ not is irrelevant, and whether or not it meets Smoke­ P's approval is hardly going to cost Dinara or­ myself any sleep!
    Thank you, it's been . . . . . .­ emotional.
    ps
    robertxxx111
    RF 2 sets & a break up;­ hopefully that will bring an end to your sad rantings.

    From cameron w, on Sun 7 Jun 3:33PM

  5. to cameron w
    i am not trying to come between u and­ smoky p or whatever he calls himself but u seem 2 keep­ missunderstand his points. For example..he never said­ that Safina is not the world's number 1 player. He­ simply said that she is not a number one player­ material. There's alot more u keep­ misunderstanding. If i can understand his simple­ quotes then u should.

    From Chukwuemeka, on Sun 7 Jun 2:28PM

  6. Cameron W(118)......i temporarily lowered my level to­ accomodated you but you are beginning to sound like you­ are stuck in a feed-back loop. I'm back up where i­ belong. Now if u don't mind i have men's match­ to watch. Hopefully we all be in for a real Grand Slam­ final treat.

    From Smoke P, on Sun 7 Jun 2:17PM

  7. Well done Svetlana ! Nice to see she comments that­ Safina is playing better at the mo , hence being world­ no.1, but did visibly tighten up in the final. Sevtlana­ took her chances and composed herself well. Now­ she's got two ! Great stuff, humble girl too.

    From denniovis, on Sun 7 Jun 11:53AM

  8. Smoke P,
    You do make me laugh:
    I quote,
    . . . . .'­ I know­ it's a bitter pill for you to swallow but­ facts are­ facts.....Safina is not "no.1­ player"­ material.'
    . . . . . . .­ .
    PRICELESS!!!!!
    The last time i looked at the WTA­ rankings, Safina WAS (and still IS) the Number-One­ ranked player in the world and that is what is known as­ a FACT!!!!!!
    And will you please, please stop­ misquoting me; you took my comment re: a Top-100­ player winning a Slam completely out of context, as you­ have with my comment re: respect. You have failed to­ answer any of my points; and i have no favourites by­ the way, i just prefer to stand up for people who come­ in for unfair criticism and are subjected to constant­ bullying from the likes of you.
    Anyway, you just keep­ on digging that hole for yourself, soon it will be big­ enough to bury your puerile argument!!!

    From cameron w, on Sun 7 Jun 11:20AM

  9. poor Dinara Safina
    just a whole bundle of delicate ``­ NERVES
    like her brother ...!

    From pitcrew66, on Sun 7 Jun 10:08AM

  10. To robertxxx111 will you please go away from these­ forums - you are a truly hateful person writing the­ same stuff wherever you can. What has RF EVER done to­ you to make you hate him so much. I wonder whether you­ are a member of the human race to have such nasty­ feelings about someone you have never ever met.

    From Pkenn, on Sun 7 Jun 9:50AM

  11. CONGRATS SVETA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MOLODEC!!!!!!!!!!!!! ­ :)))))

    From marysport, on Sun 7 Jun 8:49AM

  12. Yeaaaaaaaaaa, Svetlana Kuznetsova the WINNER of Roland­ Garros 2009
    Congratulations for you Svetlana ^^

    From gatri.sakhturns, on Sun 7 Jun 8:29AM

  13. Congratulations little lass, well done.

    From JamesH, on Sun 7 Jun 7:32AM

  14. there really are no women tennis players who are no.1­ material anymore. williams sisters are getting on in­ years so they are not as invincible as they were in­ their heyday, sharapova keeps getting injured and­ everyhone else is pathetic. they might occassionaly­ bash their way into winning but no1 material? not in­ the women's game. shows the lack of depth in the­ women's tennis game to me. too much uncontrolled­ power, whiny emotions, and screaming... and too little­ enjoyable tennis

    From TransInc, on Sun 7 Jun 6:42AM

  15. I'm pro WILLIAMS but really i feel sad/ sorry for­ SAFINA for not winning the RG09. I guees it's­ really important to her bec by wiining RG09 will elude­ her as "TRUE NUMBER" 1 tennis player NOT by­ just earning points to become number 1 in tennis. Just­ like what happened to CJLISTERS it takes 3 years before­ she grab US OPEN 05. But she proved already AS NUMBER­ 1 before when she won the season ending championship­ 2002 to SERENA. Same to MAURESMO as she won the season­ ending championship 05 to PIERCE before she won a­ GRANDSLAM IN AO 06, and the ellusive WIMBLEDON­ 05.

    Well i guess it will take time before she will­ win a GRANDSLAM just don't pressure­ herself.
    Goodluck to your bid to WIMBLEDON but i guess­ it will be tough for safina. as i think she will face­ VENUS in semifinal i guess.

    From mon p, on Sun 7 Jun 6:03AM

  16. I'm pro WILLIAMS but really i feel sad/ sorry for­ SAFINA for not winning the RG09. I guees it's­ really important to her bec by wiining RG09 will elude­ her as "TRUE NUMBER" 1 tennis player NOT

    From mon p, on Sun 7 Jun 5:51AM

  17. I'm pro WILLIAMS but really i feel sad/ sorry for­ SAFINA for not winning the RG09. I guees it's­ really important to her bec by wiining RG09 will elude­ her as "TRUE NUMBER" 1 tennis player NOT

    From mon p, on Sun 7 Jun 5:51AM

  18. Well done Lass, you played a great gtame.!!

    From JAIME, on Sun 7 Jun 5:43AM

  19. kuznetzova truely deserved this title. she was the­ better player on the occasion, composed and­ fluent.
    Hard luck Safina, your time will come. you can­ be proud of what you achieved today. but this doesnt­ take away anything from kuznetzovas well deserved­ victory.

    From aaditya, on Sun 7 Jun 5:21AM

  20. i feel really sorry for Safina. 3 grand slam finals,­ and she has not manages to take a set, even after such­ an impressive run leading up to the final. well done­ Kuznetsova, better luck next time Dinara.
    Jankovic and­ Ivanovic can learn from Safina and Kuznetsova.­ they're both too sidetracked from tennis, with­ modelling, building courts, and other such things. but­ with people like Safina, Kuznetsova, and the Williams,­ they are solely focused on tennis, and that is why they­ are the best.

    From aleksicn93, on Sun 7 Jun 4:35AM
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