The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Kuznetsova is champion

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 13, 2004

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Sport - Tennis

Kuznetsova is champion

NEW YORK, SEPT. 12. By all rights, Svetlana Kuznetsova should have been a cycling star: Her brother and parents all won or coached others to Olympic medals and world titles in that sport. Kuznetsova gave it a shot, hated it, and moved on to tennis.

What a brilliant career move. Still just 19, with braces on her teeth, she's the U.S. Open champion, the third straight Russian woman to win a major.

Pounding ferocious forehands and covering the baseline with the muscular legs of a Tour de France rider, Kuznetsova overwhelmed Elena Dementieva 6-3, 7-5 on Saturday night in the American Grand Slam's first all-Russian final.

``When I played the first game, I was nervous,'' said Kuznetsova, never past the quarterfinals at a major before. ``This morning, I was nervous. I was stiff. But something inside of me was telling me I would be fine.''

The evening began on a sombre note, with 20,524 spectators joining in a moment of silence to remember victims of September 11, 2001, and the recent terrorist attack at a school in Russia.

Kuznetsova and Dementieva both wore black ribbons in memory of the hundreds of Russian victims.

Dementieva asked the crowd to observe another moment of silence after the match.

Excellent show

When play began, Kuznetsova was brilliant, striking winner after winner on the forehand side. She finished with 23 from that wing alone. Dementieva normally has just as good a forehand but was reduced to chasing shots on defence and wound up with a total of just seven winners overall — 27 fewer than Kuznetsova.

``I was playing in pain these two weeks,'' said Dementieva, slowed by an injury to her left leg, which was heavily wrapped.

She again was undone by some key double-faults. Her total of serving miscues wasn't nearly as high as earlier in the tournament, but she was broken in every game in which she had at least one of her four double-faults.

Dementieva broke Kuznetsova twice in the second set, but then began the very next game with a double-fault each time en route to ceding the advantage right back.

The second time, Dementieva ended the game with a double-fault, too.

When Kuznetsova held in the next game to make it 4-all, Dementieva's left leg appeared to buckle a bit while she reached for a backhand, and she went down on that knee.

Dementieva was slow getting to a shot in the next game, but she somehow managed to fight off a break point with a backhand that caught the baseline.

But at 5-5, Dementieva double-faulted to break point, then sailed a forehand wide.

Kuznetsova served the match out, then climbed into the stands for celebratory hugs, including with Navratilova and coach Sergio Casal.

Flawless Federer

Top-ranked Federer moved within a victory of becoming the first man since 1988 to win three Grand Slam tournaments in a year, beating No. 5 Henman 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals.

``I feel very confident out on the court,'' Federer said. ``It's important that every day, I wake up, I'm 100 per cent into tennis and ready to go.''

In Sunday's final, Federer will play 2001 U.S. Open champion Hewitt, who eliminated No. 28 Joachim Johansson of Sweden 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.

The crowds at the Open love an underdog, and Henman got more positive energy on Saturday than he normally does at Wimbledon, where he's hounded by the pressure of a nation looking for a British champion.

The fans tried to will him past Federer, who silenced them by conjuring up twice as many winners (31) as unforced errors (15). Federer befuddled Henman at the start, winning 12 straight points on serve — only twice in that span did Henman manage to put the ball in play.

Overall, Federer showed off perfectly cut drop shots, stinging passes, volleys, aces, return winners: You name it, he did it.

``I don't think there's anyone who hits the ball like that,'' said Henman.

`If you take Roddick's serve and Agassi's returns and my volleys and Hewitt's speed and tenacity, then you've probably got a good chance against Federer.''

A case in point: The eighth game of the match, after the players traded breaks. With Henman serving, Federer displayed unbelievable variety.

He flicked a forehand lob that curled over Henman and landed right where the baseline and sideline meet, similar to a momentum-shifting lob he cut through the wind against Agassi in the quarterfinals.

Then Federer raced to the net behind a deep approach shot, drawing a forehand error from a rushed Henman.

Federer sealed the break with a forehand passing winner.

``Now that I'm in the final, I start thinking about it, all the records. There's a lot on the line for me,'' Federer said. ``I hope I can cope with all those things, plus there's a very tough opponent.''

Hewitt's hopes

Hewitt, the 2002 Wimbledon champion, owns a 16-match winning streak. But he lost to the eventual champion at the other three majors this year, including to Federer in Australia and England.

``Playing Roger, I'm going to have to play some great tennis,'' Hewitt said. ``But I feel like I'm playing well at the moment, and I give myself a good chance.''

Hewitt broke Johansson in the final game of each of the first two sets and in the next-to-last game of No. 3.

Hewitt faced just one break point, which he saved, and finished with a flourish, claiming the last 12 points. He hasn't lost a set; no man won the U.S. Open without dropping a set since Neale Fraser in 1960. No. 4 Hewitt and No. 28 Johansson never had played for real, at any level, but they know each other well. Johansson's girlfriend is Hewitt's sister, Jaslyn— not wanting to take sides, she sat in a private suite instead of either player's guest box. — AP

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