Home » TIMag.com news » Players » Kuznetsova Captures French Open Title

Kuznetsova Captures French Open Title

*Austria - Kennelbach — * HEAD player Svetlana Kuznetsova was in complete control during the French Open finals match, as she defeated fellow Russian, No. 1 Dinara Safina for the title 6-4, 6-2. Kuznetsova broke Safina five times to win the title.

“I knew everything was going to be okay when I stepped out on to the court. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a very long time,” said Kuznetsova. “I played with all my heart and just played my tennis.”

To reach the title match, Kuznetsova defeated two tough opponents, No. 2 Serena Williams in the quarterfinals 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 7-5 and No. 32 Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 in the semifinals.

The French Open title is the second Grand Slam title for Kuznetsova, who plays with a MicroGEL Extreme with Teflon® polymer after winning the US Open title in 2004. The victory catapulted her from position 7 to 5 in the Sony Ericsson WTA tour singles ranking.

On the men’s side, HEAD player Robin Soderling had the best finish of his career, defeating #1 Rafael Nadal in the round of 16, 6-2, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, and then defeating Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, in the semifinals to reach his first Grand Slam final match against Roger Federer. Soderling also reached a new career high position and is now ranked on No. 12 in the South African Airways ATP ranking.

Soderling, who plays with a MicroGEL Radical MP, pushed the second set to six-all, but was unable to break the dominant play of Federer. Despite his strong performance, Soderling was defeated 6-1, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4.

“Roger played extremely well and is very deserving of this win,” said Soderling. “I plan to take my successes at the French Open into the rest of the season.”

The HEAD success was completed by the Anabel Medina Garrigues from Spain who retained the women’s doubles title with partner Maria Ruano Pascal. In the final, they won against HEAD fellow player Victoria Azarenka and Elena Vesnina.

In the men’s doubles competition, South African HEAD player Wesley Moodie and partner Dick Norman reached the final where they were finally defeated 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 by No. 3 seeded Dlouhy / Paes.

On the junior’s side, French HEAD player Gianni Mina claimed a final spot in the boys’ singles competition. In front of his home crowd, the French young gun finally lost in three sets 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 against Daniel Berta from Sweden. Fellow HEAD players Henri Laaksonen from Finland and Dominik Schulz from Germany reached the semi finals while Sloane Stephens also advanced to the girl’s semi finals.

Posted on June 8, 2009
Permalink