Injury forces Svetlana Kuznetsova out of the professional circuit - Tennis Special
Former French and US Open titlist, Svetlana Kuznetsova suffered a left thigh injury during her second round match against Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu at the Grand Prix De SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem 2012 on 25th April.
She was drained out from her Fed Cup matches held on 21st to 22nd and consequently sustained the injury.
The Russian veteran was serving for her third serve in the final set of the match when she was forced to withdraw from the professional tennis. Her opponent, Begu on the other hand registered a 1-6, 7-6(4), 3-2 retirement victory
and secured a quarter-final spot at that WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International-level event held in Fes, Morocco.
The Dubai resident, Kuznetsova, entered the Moroccan clay courts after coming from a dramatic Fed Cup World Group semi-final action on 21st-22nd April. She stunned the Serbian number one, Ana Ivanovic, in
a three set thriller to level her nation scores by 1-1 against Serbia.
“I thought it was something else, another score, I thought I was serving for the match or something!” Kuznetsova was quoted after shocking the former world number one for the first time on clay. “I was so focused on the game and
I think it was the key for me today. I played so well in the first set, then lost a little bit of concentration and she turned it around because I stopped dictating it. It’s a very big point for us. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Later, her compatriot, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, fell to Jelena Jankovic, consequently trailing her country by 1-2. Russia’s fate was depending on Kuznetsova but she was underplayed by the former world number one, Jelena Jankovic.
She displayed tremendous skills and abilities at the Sports Palace Megasport in Moscow but her efforts stressed her out.
The St. Petersburg native was bidding for her 14th WTA career title at the Royal Tennis Cub de Fes and was eying to end her 20 months title drought. She carried her spark in Morocco and breezed past Irina-Camelia Begu
in the opening set with a breadstick. The Russian failed to fend off the lone breakpoint she faced and capitalised on four out of six break opportunities to inch towards the glory.
Ranked 27th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Kuznetsova kept momentum rolling into the following set and regardless of suffering the first blow, she cruised to a 5-2 lead. However, Begu got in action after that and through
her exquisite forehands, she not only recovered but prevailed in the tie-breaker to bag the equaliser with a 7-6(4) score line.
The Russian veteran re-gained her strength in the final set and earned the coveted break in the third game to take the initial lead. She lost her edge after that and was trailing 2-3 when she felt severe pain on her left thigh
and eventually pulled out from the tournament.
Overall, the Russian sought 14 break opportunities out of which she availed eight to inch closer towards the spotlight.
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