The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Hard-fought victory for Svetlana Kuznetsova

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Hard-fought victory for Svetlana Kuznetsova

— PHOTO: AP

DETERMINED: Third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia overcame Sorana Cirstea of Romania at the U.S. Open on Wednesday.

NEW YORK: Svetlana Kuznetsova shook off an early break and rallied to a 7-6(3), 6-1 victory over Sorana Cirstea on Wednesday in the women’s second round of the U.S. Open.

Kuznetsova, the 2004 champion and No. 3 seed this year, trailed 2-4 in the opening set before getting back on serve and eventually forcing a tiebreak that she dominated against her 18-year-old opponent. She cruised to a 5-0 lead in the second and closed out the match in 1 hour, 13 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

No. 15 seed Patty Schnyder also moved into the third round with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the U.S. Open girls’ champion two years ago.

In just her fourth career Grand Slam event, Cirstea is forging a bit of a bad habit. Cirstea, who made her debut at a major in this year’s Australian Open, led there by a break three times in the opening set against current World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, only to fall 7-5, 6-3 in the first-round match.

She reached the second round at the French Open and Wimbledon.

Superb show

Roger Federer had a stellar showing under the lights on Tuesday as he played the unfamiliar role of No. 2 seed.

For a while in the first set, Federer couldn’t shake Maximo Gonzalez, who was making his Flushing Meadows debut.

The Swiss who lost his ATP number 1 ranking crown after a four-and-a-half-year reign to Rafael Nadal, showed he won’t be bowled over in despair, crushing Argentine outsider Maximo Rodriguez 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 to advance in his opening match.

And Federer, freshly crowned Olympic doubles gold medallist, says that he’s perhaps experiencing even more support than ever before.

“It’s never really been too difficult for me. I always thought fans were really good for me, excited to see me.”

The holder of a dozen grand slam titlesbelieves that his rising popularity with the fickle Gotham fan base is due to solid past performances. After taking his time as a shy Swiss teenager in coming to terms with the brash and bold New York style, Federer at age 27 has adapted nicely.

His handlers decided a few years ago to lift his North American profile, pairing him occasionally with golfing dominator Tiger Woods and inserting him and girlfriend/manager Mirka Vavrinec into the Manhattan social swirl.

The result is a still-modest and personable figure who transcends his sport and reaps huge financial rewards as a global brand.

“I think I have great appeal to many fans around the world, and they have always enjoyed watching me play. Maybe because I speak so many different languages and I’m so international I have a bit of an advantage,” he said.

Paes & Dlouhy advance

In doubles action, seventh seeded Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy rallied from a set down to advance into the second round on Tuesday.

The Indo-Czech pair defeated Spaniards Oscar Hernandez and Albert Montanes, 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-4. — Agencies

THE RESULTS

Prefix denotes seeding

Women (second round): Magdalena Rybarikova (Slo) bt Tamira Paszek (Aut) 6-1, 6-2; 15-Patty Schnyder (Sui) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) 6-3, 6-3; 3-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt Sorana Cirstea (Rou) 7-6(3), 6-1; Li Na (Chn) bt Sara Errani (Ita) 4-6, 6-2, 6-0; Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) bt Ekaterina Bychkova (Rus) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3; Anne Keothavong (GBr) bt 25-Francesca Schiavone (Ita) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

First round: 32-Amelie Mauresmo (Fra) bt Nathalie Dechy (Fra) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; 17-Alize Cornet (Fra) bt Camille Pin (Fra) 7-5, 6-0; 7-Venus Williams (USA) bt Samantha Stosur (Aus) 6-2, 6-3; Kaia Kanepi (Est) bt Monica Niculescu (Rou) 6-0, 6-3; 27-Alona Bondarenko (Ukr) bt Jamea Jackson (USA) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2; Bethanie Mattek (USA) bt Marta Domachowska (Pol) 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-4; Sabine Lisicki (Ger) bt Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Esp) 6-3, 6-4; 4-Serena Williams (USA) bt Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukr) 6-1, 6-4; 18-Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) bt Jill Craybas (USA) 6-3, 7-6(4); 19-Nadia Petrova (Rus) bt Olivia Sanchez (Fra) 6-2, 6-4; Timea Bacsinszky (Sui) bt 31-Virginie Razzano (Fra) 6-4, 6-1; 20-Nicole Vaidisova (Cze) bt Petra Cetkovska (Cze) 6-1, 6-2; Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Ger) bt 11-Daniela Hantuchova (Svk) 6-4 6-2; Hsieh Su-Wei (Tpe) bt Evgeniya Rodina (Rus) 6-2, 6-4; 9-Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) bt Yaroslava Shvedova (Rus) 6-4, 6-2; Tathiana Garbin (Ita) bt Maret Ani (Est) 6-0, 7-6(5).

Men (first round): Sam Warburg (USA) bt Janko Tipsarevic (Srb) 6-2, 1-0 (retd.); Agustin Calleri (Arg) bt Austin Krajicek (USA) 6-2, 6-2, 6-1; 18-Nicolas Almagro (Esp) bt Frank Dancevic (Can) 6-3, 6-4, 7-5; 5-Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) bt Dudi Sela, Israel, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3..

2-Roger Federer (Sui) bt Maximo Gonzalez (Arg) 6-3, 6-0, 6-3; Bobby Reynolds (USA) bt Tomas Zib (Cze) 6-4, 6-7(3), 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(4); 24-Paul-Henri Mathieu (Fra) bt Sebastien Grosjean (Fra) 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-2; Mardy Fish (USA) bt Robert Smeets (Aus) 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4; Ivo Minar (Cze) bt 20-Nicolas Kiefer (Ger) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 4-1 retired; 23-Igor Andreev (Rus) bt Marc Gicquel (Fra) 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-4; 11-Fernando Gonzalez (Chi) bt Ivan Navarro (Esp) 7-6(3), 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5); 31-Andreas Seppi (Ita) bt Hyung-Taik Lee (Kor) 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 3-6, 6-3; Tommy Haas (Ger) bt 12-Richard Gasquet (Fra) 6-7(3), 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2; Marat Safin (Rus) bt Vince Spadea (USA) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4; 15-Tommy Robredo (Esp) bt Mischa Zverev (Ger) 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-1; Gilles Muller (Lux) bt Laurent Recouderc (Fra) 6-4, 6-0, 4-6, 6-4; 13-Fernando Verdasco (Esp) bt Igor Kunitsyn (Rus) 6-3, 6-4, 6-1; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Esp) bt Dominik Hrbaty (Svk) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; Lu Yen-Hsun (Tpe) bt Nicolas Lapentti (Ecu) 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) bt Scoville Jenkins (USA) 6-3, 6-3, 7-5; .

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