Kuznetsova grits her teeth and battles into the final

Svetlana Kuznetsova fought off a troublesome right ankle and a valiant opponent as she overcame Sam Stosur 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3 to secure a final berth at the French Open for the first time since 2006. The Australian No30 seed staged a gutsy comeback to take the match to three sets, but Kuznetsova’s superior clay-court skills were enough to see her through after a 2 hour 25 minute battle. No7 seed Kuznetsova was not moving freely about the court, her ankle heavily strapped after she twisted it against Serena Williams the previous day. That quarter-final tie, which stretched to three sets and almost three hours while Stosur was defeating the inexperienced Sorana Cirstea in barely half the time, also seemed to have left its mark on the Russian. The hallmarks of her clay court game – scuttling about court and retrieving everything her opponent can throw at her – were noticeably absent, and she rarely launched herself into the kind of forehands that have seen her win 129 matches on clay including her first title on this, the slowest of surfaces, in Stuttgart in April. The first set picked up where the opening semi-final tie between Dinara Safina and Dominika Cibulkova left off, with low percentage tennis and unforced errors the order of the day. Five consecutive games went against serve, and it was a question of whoever would hold their nerve and hold serve first. Kuznetsova it was, and she took the opener 6-4, before receiving treatment on her ankle which was clearly hampering her movements. The Russian broke early in the second set and the writing seemed on the wall for Stosur, who after sweeping into the semi-finals on the back of strong serving and crisp forehands suddenly found that neither of those two weapons was working. Her unforced error count was already over 30 when she stepped up her game mid-way through the second set and broke back to level at 4-4. The tie-break which ensued four games later finally produced some sparkling tennis, including a volleyed rally at the net that awoke the crowd from the torpor of what had become a poor spectacle. Kuznetsova was two points from the promised land when Stosur finally got her forehand firing on all cylinders, and she forced a deciding set by taking five points in a row. Kuznetsova went to the locker room between sets and came out with a fresh shirt and fresh determination. Stosur kept on battling and held serve twice, but the Russian it was who forced a break, again in mid-set, after another forehand error from the Australian. At 5-2 down, Stosur again staged a mini-rally to hold and then get to within two points of breaking, but the Russian No7 seed pulled one last effort out of the bag to send down two strong serves and book her place in the French Open final for the second time, after losing to Justine Henin in 2006. Stosur’s dream run to her first ever Grand Slam final four will take her into the top 20 in the world for the first time, while for Kuznetsova, the stakes are higher. The former world No2 won her first Grand Slam at the US Open in 2004 but has not added to her tally since then, and now only Dinara Safina stands in her way in the first all-Russian final at the French since Anastasia Myskina defeated Elena Dementieva here in 2004. Kuznetsova bested her fellow Russian Safina in April’s Stuttgart final only to lose the re-match six says later as the world No1 lifted the Rome title. Saturday’s showdown will depend on which holds up better – Safina’s shaky nerves or Kuznetsova’s weakened ankle…