Sveta turning back time
I remember well the first time I saw Svetlana Kuznetsova. The year was 2002 and the place Finland, my home country. Still ranked outside top 100, Sveta had come to play Nordic Light Tournament there. She had to qualify to get to the main draw, but went on to win it all. She also won the doubles with Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. Sveta was only 17 back then, but you could see there was something special about her. In two years, she was to win the US Open. Sveta was talented, but quite inconsistent, too. She would beat anyone but then lose to anyone. The other shining moment was the French Open final in 2009. Dinara Safina had played a flawless clay court season and everybody expected her to win. But there was Sveta, holding her nerve better.
Some years back, Sveta was fighting injuries and her ranking dropped. This year there have been some signs of revival. The last bang happened just in the last two weeks. Winning a tournament in Moscow on Saturday, then flying to Singapore and winning two marathon matches here on Monday and Wednesday, in a space of only five days.
I was there on Wednesday to see the latest epic against Karolina Pliskova. It was a very tight affair, both players served for the match, but it was Sveta who prevailed. She said she was tired but didn´t want to let anybody down. I´m very much looking forward to the Sveta-Garbine -match today, what will Sveta do? Having already booked her place in the semifinals, she could let the match go, but I doubt it. I think she will try to get more ranking point and money by winning a match. She has a good chance to do just that, because Garbine Is not the Garbine of the French Open.
I bought only yesterday the tickets for Friday day session, they were quite cheap compared to the evening. Before the singles, there is also a doubles match featuring Hingis and Mirza. Santina broke up their partnership in the middle of the season citing a lack of success. It´s interesting to see how they will complement each other now. Looking forward to the day session!
Tennis-Minna 