Svetlana Kuznetsova remained stoic walking to the net as the new French Open champion.
She traded kisses on the cheek with opponent Dinara Safina, and only then did Kuznetsova allow herself a brief smile.
Not that she wasn’t thrilled. The 2004 US Open champion now has a pair of Grand Slam trophies.
PHOTO: EPA
“It’s like having second baby, you know?” Kuznetsova said. “One baby you’re happy, and second baby you’re even more happy.”
Showing uncharacteristic calm, Kuznetsova beat Safina 6-4, 6-2 in an all-Russian final on Saturday. Jitters have often betrayed Kuznetsova down the stretch in big matches, but she swept the final four games with steady play.
It was the top-ranked Safina who seemed rattled. She double-faulted seven times, struggled with her movement and appeared near tears late in the match.
Four-time winner of the French Open, Justine Henin, and others have criticized Safina’s ranking because she has yet to win a major. She climbed to No. 1 in April and will remain there through at least late next month, but she’s now 0-3 in Grand Slam finals.
The younger sister of two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin was runner-up at Roland Garros last year to Ana Ivanovic.
The loss ended her 16-match winning streak and was the latest in a series of lopsided women’s finals at Roland Garros. The last one to go three sets was in 2001, when Jennifer Capriati beat Kim Clijsters.
The No. 7-seeded Kuznetsova ended Serena Williams’ 18-match Grand Slam winning streak in the quarter-finals, and she had the more varied game against Safina, mixing the angle and pace of her groundstrokes as she scooted across the clay. Kuznetsova hit an occasional drop shot and won all six points when she came to the net.
Cool, damp weather made for slower conditions that lessened the impact of Safina’s booming groundstrokes. And her serve was woeful: Safina lost more than half her service points and was broken five times.
“I really wanted to win — I just didn’t handle it,” Safina said. “I was a little bit desperate on the court, and didn’t do the things that I had to do, didn’t stay tough mentally.”
She double-faulted for the last time on championship point, then slammed her racket to the court, which contributed to Kuznetsova’s subdued reaction.
“I cannot smile at her face when you double-fault,” Kuznetsova said. “I respect her a lot.”
Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy captured their first men’s doubles title as a pairing at the French Open on Saturday.
The Indo-Czech duo beat South African Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman of Belgium 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
While Dlouhy lifted his first major men’s doubles title, Paes took his total to five.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Naomi Osaka is braced for a “battle” after yesterday setting up a clash with Coco Gauff in the round-of-16 of the China Open, while top seed Aryna Sabalenka also marched on. Osaka defeated 60th-ranked American Katie Volynets 6-3, 6-2 and next faces Gauff in a showdown of former US Open champions in Beijing. World No. 2 Sabalenka swatted aside Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-2 for her 14th consecutive victory and plays another American in 24th-ranked Madison Keys. Looking ahead to the Gauff meeting, four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka said: “She’s very athletic, obviously.” “For me, my strongest traits are being aggressive and also my serve,
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under