Svetlana Kuznetsova wins French Open title‎

World no.1 and no.1 seed Dinara Safina could be a heavy favourite to win at Roland Garros final but Svetlana Kuznetsova has the experience when it comes to winning a Grand Slam.

Kuznetsova had waited nearly five years to win her second major tennis championship.

She captured the 2004 U.S. Open championship at the age of 19 after beating Elena Dementieva.

Last night, also against her fellow compatriot, Kuznetsova defeated Safina 6-4, 6-2 in just 74 minutes without breaking a sweat!

“I have been waiting for this moment for a long time, losing to the winners,” Kuznetsova, a 23-year-old from St. Petersburg, said in her bubbly English on Philippe Chatrier court when accepting the trophy.

“I had been playing many matches, and this time it happened. Really, I didn’t expect it to happen this year."

Steffi Graf, a six-time French Open champion, was on hand to present Kuznetstova the trophy on court.

After thanking the crowd and her family, Kuznetsova praised her fellow countrywoman, Safina, and said that one day she would get that first major championship.

“I guess today I played a little better,” she said.

“I am sorry for that.”

(Via nytimes.com; Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Dinara Safina needs a Grand Slam title to justify no.1 rank

Dinara Safina, who is scheduled to meet fellow compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova at the French Open final, has barely done justice to herself in her two previous appearances in a Grand Slam final.

The world no.1 was defeated by Ana Ivanovic here last year and was crushed in less than an hour by Serena Williams at this year's Australian Open.

Kuznetsova, who won the 2004 US Open, last beat Safina in the current clay-court season, winning the final in Stuttgart.

However, Safina has won eight of their 13 meetings, including five of the last six.

''She's no.1,'' Kuznetsova said.

''She has to win it, not me. I just want to go out there and enjoy it.''

The two players, both 23, have been friends and rivals since they were juniors.

''She was a funny girl,'' Safina recalled.

''I remember her coming to the match with a two-litre Pepsi. You would look at her and think: 'No way can she win a Grand Slam one day'."

"But then she moved to Spain and changed completely. She became much more professional.''

(Via ESPN; Image via BBC Sport/AP)

2009 French Open Day 3: Slightly boring...

It was boring, rain-interrupted day at Roland Garros. Seriously.

I went to bed early and didn't bother to blog about until the next day.

Perhaps I didn't get enough sleep for the past couple of days.

So, Serena Williams needed 9 match points to win her first round match at the French Open? No kidding.

Serena who called her performance “horrendous" finally overcame 100th-ranked Klara Zakopalova 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4.

Jelena Jankovic had an easy win, defeating Petra Cetkovska 6-2, 6-3.

Nice nails to match your lovely dress, Jelena!

One of my favourite, Svetlana Kuznetsova also had an easy win. She beat Claire Feuerstein 6-1, 6-4.

Gael Monfils had seriously debated not playing at Roland Garros at all this year because of the chronic tendinitis in his left knee.

It had been also more than a month since he had played a match on tour.

However, in his first round match yesterday, Monfils showed he was not rusty on court as he rolled past Bobby Reynolds 6-2, 6-3, 6-1, in just 1 hour and 28 minutes.

Monfils fellow countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also picked up win against Julien Benneteau 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an all-French affair.

Fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro had little trouble in his first match at Roland Garros, beating another Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.

According to James Blake, being an American his main goal of the year are Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

And because of that he was eliminated 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-2 by Leonardo Mayer, a qualifier from Argentina.

Leonardo who was making his Grand Slam debut is currently ranked 93rd in the world.

Another American, Mardy Fish also failed to move to the second round.

He was defeated by Maximo Gonzalez 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4).

For more results, please click here.

(Images via Yahoo! Sport)

Weekend winners everywhere

Rome - World no.1 Dinara Safina won her first title of the year Saturday by defeating fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the Italian Open.

Estoril - Spain’s Albert Montanes battled past American James Blake 5-7, 7-6, 6-0 to win the Estoril Open on Sunday.

Meanwhile, in the women's singles, Yanina Wickmayer claimed her first career title with a straight-sets victory over Ekaterina Makarova 7-5, 6-2 to pick up her maiden WTA Tour crown in Portugal.

Munich - Tomas Berdych rallied from four points down in the decisive tiebreaker to beat Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (5) in the final of the BMW Open Sunday for his first title of the year.

Belgrade - Top-seeded Novak Djokovic beat lucky loser Lukasz Kubot of Poland 6-3, 7-6 (0) in the Serbia Open final to win the first ATP Tour tournament held in his home country.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports, Djokovic's pic by Andrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty Images)

Jelena Jankovic has too much time to spend in Rome

Jelena Jankovic took time out while competing at the Italian Open to do some shopping at the GF Ferre boutique and visit the Piazza di Spagna or better known as the Spanish Steps in Rome.

Her mom Snezana accompanied her during the photo shoot.

Coming back to the court, Jankovic was leading 6-1, 1-0 when Kateryna Bondarenko called for the trainer and withdrew because of flu yesterday.

They were on court for only 35 minutes.

“I would have loved to finish the match, because I was playing pretty well in that first set,” Jankovic said.

“I felt the ball really well and I had good timing.”

Jankovic will play Svetlana Kuznetsova next, who ousted crowd favourite Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.

(Images by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Rome-ancing the clay court season

If Rafael Nadal wins his fifth consecutive French Open later this month, probably 2009 will be the best clay court season he ever had.

Fresh from winning his fourth Rome Masters title on Sunday, beating reigning champion Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 in the final, Nadal looks confident for Madrid Masters and the French Open.

Now Nadal owns 15th Masters Series title and only Andre Agassi has won more with a whopping 17 titles!

"I would love to have more than 17."

"Right now I have 15, I'm very happy for that (but) I'm going to try my best in the next tournaments," said Nadal.

In the men's doubles final, Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor continued their European clay court domination by defeating defending champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 7-6(5), 6-3.

While in Stuttgart, Germany, Svetlana Kuznetsova stunned world no.1 Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-3 to win the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Sunday.

American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Russian Nadia Petrova won the doubles title with a 5-7, 6-3, 10-7 victory over Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta.

(Images Ryan Pierse/Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Not that I don't prefer women's tennis of late...

Too bogged down with work recently, I didn't have much time left to spend on women's tennis for the past weeks, missing the Fed Cup and Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

At Stuttgart, looks like the new world no.1 Dinara Safina will play against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final match tomorrow, after defeated Flavia Pennetta 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.

Earlier, Kuznetsova easily overcame compatriot Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-2.

Meanwhile, Victoria Azarenka and Ana Ivanovic are already in Rome for a promotional event at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

Someone in tennis forum suggested that Vika was flipping off Ana.

Okay, they are friends again :P

(Images via Quotidiano.net)

Svetlana Kuznetsova blamed the roof over loss

It's strange because Svetlana Kuznetsova didn't mind the heat.

Instead she was angry that her opponent, Serena Williams bounced back from one set down to win 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 after the roof on the Rod Laver Arena court was closed.

“It’s gave her more chances, I guess,” she said.

“Definitely it was a big change. I was very comfortable playing outside."

“I guess it’s two different games. One you play inside; one you play outside."

“Definitely angry… why should I not be?"

“Game going my way. Why today they had to close it? I didn’t get it. That was why I was angry."

“I didn’t get the rule at all. Closing the roof middle of the match, I don’t get it.”

According to Reuters, Melbourne is braced for its hottest week in 100 years as meteorologists predict five consecutive days above 40 degrees for the first time since 1908.

The tournament referee can halt matches if the “heat stress index” reaches a predetermined level. The index is a complex, combined measurement of temperature, heat radiation, wind, and humidity.

According to The Times of London, Australia is just too hot to host major sporting events like the Australian Open.

Pointing to defending champion Novak Djokovic's retirement from the Australian Open on Tuesday, The Times said "Australia is no place to host big international sporting tournaments".

"Sooner or later you have to face up to the only sensible conclusion: Australia is no place to host big international sporting tournaments; except maybe the world kangaroo long-jump."

The newspaper went on to blame recent Australian sporting failures on the heat.

"Their cricketers have lost their bite, their rugby players no longer rule the world. They had a poor Olympics. Even Australians, it seems, don't like it hot ."

(Via Reuters, news.com.au, Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Will it be a bullish year for Zheng Jie?

Wishing everyone a fantastic Lunar New Year!

Let's start off the Ox year with some updates from Zheng Jie.

She took a water taxi ride along the Yarra River yesterday on New Year Eve.

Today she'll have a big match in the quarterfinal against Svetlana Kuznetsova. I'm a fan of Kuzy so whoever wins and through to the semifinals, I'll be just as happy.


Updates:
Oh no! Zheng Jie retired from the match after a wrist injury in the first set.

Kuzy will now face second seed Serena Williams in the quarterfinals, who also enjoyed a brisk workout after her opponent, Victoria Azarenka, retired due to dizziness and an "undisclosed illness".


(Images by Robert Prezioso/Getty Images via zimbio, xinhuanet)

Defending champion Dmitry Tursunov at the official draw of Medibank International Sydney

Dmitry Tursunov and Svetlana Kuznetsova were at the Myer Department Store in Sydney's city centre.

They were getting some help from fans in conducting the official draw. There was an also autograph session with the players including Mario Ancic and Agnieszka Radwanska.

Check out the draws and OOP here.

Dima will be defending his title here. He's definitely an interesting player to watch out for, whether it's on court or off court. If you have missed his 'off court adventurous ride' recently in MTF or DtL, check it out here. Click for a larger version.


(Images via Medibank Sydney website, downthelinetennis)

Who's Hot, Who's Not In Tennis This Week?

I've done this some time back in September.

Since I have nothing much to blog about (while waiting for the results at Doha), I'll just put up some fascinating photos here.

Don't you think Svetlana Kuznetsova looks like Feliciano Lopez here? :D Sorry Kuzy, thumbs down for you for the bad make-up (again!). And as for Feli, of course it's thumbs up for him as he's officially single again!

You know I'm a Rafatard, but it doesn't mean that I can't criticize Rafael Nadal.

Rafa is not drunk in the picture but annoyed by the paparazzi in Paris. Well, bad week and a bad picture, that already make Rafa deserves a thumbs down.

Roger Federer is already in Shanghai now. Unlike previous years, he's no longer invincible anymore. But one thing never change, fans still think he is a major dork and this picture proves it :D

Don't you just love Ana Ivanovic? I'm sure you wouldn't mind end up stranded on a desert island with Ana, am I right? She looks stunning here, so thumbs up for her.

Jelena Jankovic deserves a thumbs down simply because she looks as if she's in a bathrobe. Period.

What do you think of Svetlana Kuznetsova new look?

Don't you think Svetlana Kuznetsova's getting prettier these days?

In the photo above, during last night's Kremlin Cup Players Party, I thought she looked rather gorgeous.

She's getting slimmer and even know how to put on some make-up. She dressed well too.

However, when she's taking a close-up photo, I'm kinda surprised. Well, a little bit shock.

Are you seeing what I'm seeing???

Gosh, I could be mistaken her for a she-male!

Well, Kuzy, whatever it is, I still love you as a tennis player. Hope you kick some butts out there in the court and win a title!

(Via zimbio.com)