Svetlana Kuznetsova survives second round French Open scare
Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova saved four match points against Andrea Petkovic as she narrowly avoided being dumped out of the French Open in the second round.
The sixth seed, who had been struggling with her form in the lead-up to Roland Garros, eventually booked her place in the third round with a hard-fought 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over the German.
Kuznetsova was in all sorts of trouble as she went down a double break in the first set, before she staged a comeback that almost saw the 24-year-old level the match at 5-5.
The deficit, however, proved too great to overcome and Petkovic took a giant step towards sending the sixth seed the way of last year’s other finalist, Dinara Safina, who was knocked out in her opening match by 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm.
With the first set in the German’s pocket, the covers were dragged across the red clay for the third time on day four in Paris, giving both players plenty to think about in the locker room as they waited for the skies to clear.
Kuznetsova had once before in her career let the opportunity to defend a Grand Slam title slip from her grasp in the early rounds, suffering a first round loss upon her return to Flushing Meadows to defend the US Open title she’d won in 2004.
With five year’s more experience under her belt, the Russian headed off court in the break facing the prospect that her attempts at a title defence at Roland Garros were likewise on the brink of being snuffed out prematurely.
In contrast, Petkovic, who cracked the top 50 for the first time in her career this January, returned to the locker room with plenty of time to mull over what would undoubtedly be the biggest Grand Slam victory of her career, the 22-year-old having failed to progress beyond the second round at a major in six previous attempts.
When the players returned to a court bathed in sunshine, it was Petkovic – who had plenty of time to become overwhelmed by the occasion while the covers were on, but instead picked up where she left off – who gained the early ascendency with a break of serve in the third game of the second set.
Petkovic was standing firm on the other side of the net, and Kuznetsova was fast running out of time to thwart what was shaping to be the biggest upset yet at the French Open in 2010.
With no further breaks of serve in the set, the world No. 41 was left with the not inconsiderable task of holding her nerve to serve for the set against the French Open champion at 5-4.
Petkovic, tightening up on the brink of victory, squandered three match points after amassing a 40-0 lead in the game, and another after gaining the advantage, before Kuznetsova levelled the set at 5-5, and followed that up by holding serve to love.
After missing a succession of potential forehand winners, and showing her frustration at the fact, the defending champ eventually secured a second straight break of serve against Petkovic to take the second set 7-5.
From there, it was always going to be difficult for Petkovic to regain the ascendency against a player who is much more experienced on the big stage and so it proved, with Kuznetsova finally wrapping up the match after two hours and 12 minutes on court.
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