Kuznetsova claims first French Open title as Safina crumbles

Svetlana Kuznetsova’s five-year wait for a second Grand Slam title is over. The Russian won the 2009 French Open title, emerging victorious 6-4 6-2 after her opponent – No1 seed Dinara Safina – was paralysed with nerves throughout the 75-minute contest. The match that pitted the best two clay-courters from 2009 deserved to be a closely fought affair. Kuznetsova had won 15 of her 17 matches on red brick this season, while Safina’s record was even more impressive: 20 victories and only one defeat. That loss came in the final in Stuttgart against none other than Kuznetsova, but the world No1 took only six days to get her revenge, defeating her friend from St Petersburg in straight sets in the final of the more prestigious Rome tournament. The two had previously lost in the final here (Kuznetsova to Justine Henin in her 2006 pomp, Safina to Ivanovic last year) and were eager to go one better. Unlucky break Early breaks were exchanged, but it soon became clear that Safina was struggling with the same lack of confidence that had blighted her first two Grand Slam final appearances, when she failed to provide either Ivanovic here last year or Serena Williams in Australia five months ago with any real competition. Games went back on serve until 4-3, until Kuznetsova raced into a 0-40 lead on the back of Safina’s fourth double fault of the set. The No1 seed battled back to 30-40 but was then the victim of a cruel bounce when the ball kept low and shot under her outstretched racquet. Kuznetsova then served at 5-3 for the set, but Safina roared right back to break to love. Any hope that this would give her the necessary confidence was short-lived as her 23-year-old opponent immediately broke again to take the set. Safina was again unfortunate in that a big serve at 15-40 was called out then correctly overruled by chair umpire Kader Nouni. Unfortunately that merely meant that the point was replayed and the Muscovite had to go through the chore of serving it again – a fate worse than death for her when she is prey to her nerves – and when Kuznetsova forced Safina to net a forehand at full stretch, the first set was in the bag. Safina self-destructs The second set continued where the first had left off. Kuznetsova went calmly about her business, serving well and keeping the ball in play, while the world No1 continued to self-destruct. Safina took the pace off her first service and while that increased its accuracy, it gave Kuznetsova more opportunities to dominate the exchanges and move her taller opponent about at will. Kuznetsova broke again to lead 4-2 and then held, which meant that Safina suddenly found herself on the world’s biggest stage relying on her faulty serve to keep her in the match. At 15-40, as cameras clicked and flashed, she fired a first ball into the foot of the net, then saw her second kick high off the net cord and spin way out of court. It was a fitting end to an anticlimactic final, though it robbed Kuznetsova of a moment of glory which she had earned throughout two weeks of gritty performances, most notably when she defeated Serena Williams in a three-set quarter-final thriller. Back on track For Svetlana Kuznetsova, a career which promised so much when she won the US Open at the age of 19 only to stutter ever since is now definitively back on track. Dinara Safina meanwhile will be go back to being known as “Marat’s little sister” and “No1 without winning a Slam” until she can silence her critics – and more importantly the doubting voices inside her own head – and finally prove her worth in the final of a Major.