Australian Open - Williams beats Kuznetsova

Eurosport - Wed, 28 Jan 16:42:00 2009

Second seed Serena Williams said that closing the roof on Rod Laver Arena because of the soaring temperatures had helped her battle back from a first-set deficit to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 5-7 7-5 6-1.

TENNIS 2009 Australian Open Serena Williams (1R) - 0

The American's victory prevented a Russian sweep of the Australian Open semi-finals and she will now play Elena Dementieva in the last four on Thursday. Vera Zvonareva and Dinara Safina meet in the other match.

"It was definitely hot," Williams said. "I was just trying to prepare myself for it to be open the whole time.

"But with the roof closed it was definitely helpful."

With the air temperature exceeding 43 degrees Celsius, neither Williams nor Kuznetsova looked comfortable in the first set, constantly seeking shade at the end of the court between points.

Williams was broken three times while Kuznetsova was broken twice and the Russian managed to seal the first set shortly after the extreme heat policy was invoked at Melbourne Park.

Both were then forced off the court for 30 minutes until the roof was closed.

Seemingly rejuvenated out of the energy sapping heat, Williams managed to break Kuznetsova when the Russian served for the match in the second set before taking the contest into a decider, which she raced through in just 27 minutes.

Despite advancing to her 15th Grand Slam semi-final, Williams added that she felt she was not playing well.

"It's really encouraging because this whole tournament I felt I've been off and I haven't been playing my best," she said.

"My balls started flying. I was thinking, 'wow, this is just not my best tennis, or even close to it'.

Williams, who is seeking her 10th Grand Slam title, entered the tournament looking fitter than she has in many years.

She said maybe all the work she did in the off-season was affecting her ball striking.

"I don't know, maybe I overtrained. I worked really hard," she said when asked why she thought she was playing poorly. "I was really ready. Nothing I did in practice... have I been able to do on the court so far.

"It's been really kind of frustrating. I'm thinking I could have been at a pool instead of training."

While she said closing the roof had helped her recover, a fear of flying home early had also assisted when Kuznetsova was serving for the match in the second set.

"I was thinking, 'okay, if you lose, you're going to fly coach (economy class) all the way back to Florida. How uncomfortable would (that) be?'

"I wouldn't allow myself to have the emergency row either. I would be so mad, I would have to sit (in) like the last row, the tightest row.

"That motivated me to do a little better."

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Reuters

Comment 34 - 53 of 53

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  1. Pity for Dementieva, she started this year great,­ played great until this match.. but experience and raw­ power won !
    Serena will easily take this.. Safina­ doesn’t have a nerve to win GS.

    From Igor K, on Thu 29 Jan 9:29AM

  2. Nice Serena...you are just simply beatufiul, elegant,­ sexy and amazing as mentioned by serrannos...agreed 1­ million percent...congratulation girl...a very very­ good luck for you in the final (single and­ doubles)...keep maintaining the calm performance and­ more power against zvonareva if she was the one who­ will make it to the final, since in my opinion she is­ the strongest currently among the russian girls (based­ on her route to SF...

    From okeonyenk, on Thu 29 Jan 5:09AM

  3. Nice Serena...you are just simply beatufiul, elegant,­ sexy and amazing as mentioned by serrannos...agreed 1­ million percent...congratulation girl...a very very­ good luck for you in the final (single and­ doubles)...keep maintaining the calm performance and­ more power against zvonareva if she was the one who­ will make it to the final, since in my opinion she is­ the strongest currently among the russian girls (based­ on her route to SF...

    From okeonyenk, on Thu 29 Jan 5:09AM

  4. Nice Serena...you are just simply beatufiul, elegant,­ sexy and amazing as mentioned by serrannos...agreed 1­ million percent...congratulation girl...a very very­ good luck for you in the final (single and­ doubles)...keep maintaining the calm performance and­ more power against zvonareva if she was the one who­ will make it to the final, since in my opinion she is­ the strongest currently among the russian girls (based­ on her route to SF...

    From okeonyenk, on Thu 29 Jan 5:08AM

  5. AMAZING SERENA...AS EXPECTED, YOU WERE PLAYING CALMLY­ TO DISPATCH DEMENTIEVA...TOO BAD FOR HER SINCE SHE IS A­ SWEET GIRL AS WELL (PERHAPS ANOTHER TIME FOR HER)...ALL­ THE BEST FOR YOU IN THE FINAL AND ALSO IN THE­ DOUBLES...

    From Serranno, on Thu 29 Jan 5:03AM

  6. you should also remember that Serena is the only top­ seed promoting the doubles game. She played her double­ matches in the heat

    From EDZA, on Thu 29 Jan 4:42AM

  7. kemikal....."Demonwhatever"? big respect to­ the pun! But how did you know Serena was going to raise­ her game from the start? Silly me feared for her­ because of her slow starts which led all her detractors­ saying she was well beaten by Azarenka and Kutznetsova.­ I thought the form of Dementieva would leave her short­ on catching up. Congrats to Serena and I hope Zvonereva­ meets her in the final. She's got class as well.

    From sanchez.santos, on Thu 29 Jan 4:40AM

  8. A Grand slam is a different animal altogether

    From EDZA, on Thu 29 Jan 4:37AM

  9. Now lets here the Serbian angle to the serena/elena­ match. Of course class will always triumph over form,­ innit

    From sanchez.santos, on Thu 29 Jan 4:34AM

  10. * Hawk eye is the possibility of tric !*
    Everybody­ trust hawk eye absolutely .
    But I doubt hawk eye is the­ possibility of tric.
    I scanned replay video again and­ again with slow speed motion at the time of challenge­ call and compared with hawk eye.
    As a result , I found­ hawk eye is the possibility of tric .
    Broadcast must­ show replay video near the line with slow speed at the­ time of challenge call.
    Replay video near the line with­ slow speed is better than Hawk eye

    From jc3312, on Thu 29 Jan 12:54AM

  11. Are you sure you are not talking about mauresemo?­ poorman? you're a @#$%.

    From Kem-One, on Thu 29 Jan 12:29AM

  12. Serena won... live with it. Her record speaks for­ itself.

    From pearlbluelou, on Thu 29 Jan 12:24AM

  13. Andjapet? You got that wrong. Serena is a solid, built­ woman. You know breasts, Thighs & a BUM. JUICY­ & MORE OF. Not a cellulite stick insect. I'M­ THE ONE WHO'S HUNG LIKE A HOSRE. I'M HUNG BABY.­ AGAIN. MORE OF. Serena has to raise her game &­ she'll deal with that DEMONWHATEVA.

    From Kem-One, on Thu 29 Jan 12:24AM

  14. serena is winning this tournament.she wins it every odd­ yr in the­ millenium-2001,2003,2005,2007,......2009.don't­ hate!

    From somieibi, on Wed 28 Jan 10:41PM

  15. serena is winning this tournament.she wins it every odd­ yr in the­ millenium-2001,2003,2005,2007,......2009.don't­ hate!

    From somieibi, on Wed 28 Jan 10:41PM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Because Serena is from USA, and USA is a WTA home­ country. This is not good for tennis.

    From Vladan, on Wed 28 Jan 7:30PM

  17. Funny thing to close the roof just when Kuznetsova was­ about to send Williams packing. Why didn't they­ close the roof for Djokovic or Azarenka? Weird!!!

    From Boris, on Wed 28 Jan 7:07PM

  18. COME ON ELENA DO IT FOR YOU'RE MUM. GOOD LUCK HOPE­ YOU CAN PLAY GOOD MATCH WITH SERENA.

    From AJ, on Wed 28 Jan 6:28PM

  19. Kuznetsova had to win. I am so sorry for her. I think­ that taking the roof was incorect at that time. Serena­ was acting in the first set. Svetlana was excellent. Go­ Dementieva and Zvonareva! Love you from Serbia!

    From Vladan, on Wed 28 Jan 4:43PM

  20. I'm sure,that Serena will take title.
    Who cares­ ROOF.Main is that Serena played champion's match.
    I­ respect Elena.She is good tennis plyer,but Kremlin Cup­ and Sydney are different animal from AO.
    Who remember­ US OPen 2008? Elena was favourite against Jankovic.but­ she lost.

    From z.karaulashvili, on Wed 28 Jan 4:40PM
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