Tennis Update: Mercury Insurance Open 2010- Russian, Svetlana Kuznetsova wins the title
Svetlana Kuznetsova won the Mercury Insurance Open 2010 after knocking down the fourth seeded Agnieszka Radwanska from Poland on Sunday. The final match score was 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-3.
The unseeded tennis ace, Kuznetsova has captured a total of two Grand Slam trophies so far in her career. She did pretty well to bounce back after falling down in the set number one of the match.
“It was like playing the rest of the match with a different approach”, Kuznetsova said. “I am glad over the fact that I managed to come back in the match after losing the first set and that shows the strength of my game”, she added.
The title came as Svetlana’s first one in a period of ten months. The Russian contested in her very first final since hammering down Radwanska in straight sets during the month of October last year at Beijing.
The twenty one ranked female tennis ace had just qualified for a single quarterfinal round prior to this tournament and commented that her game is improving day by day.
“I am completely aware of the weaknesses of my game and I have already started working on them as I know that there is still a long way to go”, the Russian said.
Radwanska, on the other hand while commenting on her opponent’s game said, “She is definitely one of the greatest tennis players in my view and in spite of the fact that she is behind me in terms of rankings, however, I still feel that she is much more capable than me, as she fights well when needed the most”, Radwanska added.
Kuznetsova made effective use of her thriving forehand and did not give up even when she was down during the final battle.
“The fact that I was not ready to give up really made me play even stronger”, said Kuznetsova.
With this victory, the Russian Kuznetsova, has also registered her name as the second tennis player ranked outside the top ten list to grab a crown here since 1989. The Russian has so far won a total of thirteen trophies in her career.
The tenth ranked Radwanska, on the other hand was playing in her first final since falling down by Kuznetsova at Beijing. She has not grabbed a trophy since June 2008.
“After playing such a tight match, it’s really disappointing when you lose in the end”, Radwanska said. “In my opinion it’s much easier to accept the defeat when you lose 6-1, 6-1. However, loosing in a close match like this in the end really hurts without any question”, she added.
Kuznetsova while commenting on the final pressure said, “My knees were shaking throughout the match,” the Russian acknowledged. However, she did not let her emotions control her game, “I surely controlled my nerves and emotions well throughout the match”, she said.
Kuznetsova finished off the match by hitting a backhand winner during her fifth match point. The match concluded in a time period of two hours and thirty five minutes in the end.
“She is definitely a better player than me with her powerful strokes and excellent foot movement”, Radwanska said after the match. “It was difficult to face her as she is a very good baseline contender so having good rallies with the Russian isn’t an easy thing to do”.
Kuznetsova committed a total of twenty five unforced errors in contrast to Radwanska’s thirty eight. She holds an edge of 7-3 in career matches versus Radwanska, including an edge of 5-2 on hard surfaces.
With the new rankings released this Monday, Kuznetsova has jumped to number seventeen in the world, where as Radwanska has also improved her rankings to number ninth as a result of her final run.
Tags: