Svetlana Kuznetsova has defeated Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the second round match of Apia International Sydney Tennis tournament. Kuznetsova won the match by 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-2. This was a very tight match and went on for 3 hours and 47 minutes. But, at the end, Kuznetsova’s tremendous power hitting proved to be too much for Wozniacki.

Kuznetsova started well in the opening set. She broke Wozniacki’s service in the third game and then, enhanced her lead with a serve hold in the next game. At the end of the fourth game, Kuznetsova was ahead by 3-1.

Kuznetsova’s lead didn’t last long. Her service was broken in the 8^th game and the scores got levelled. The next four games went with the serve and the set went into the tie breaker. Wozniacki managed to grab just four points in the tie breaker and lost the first set.

But, in the second set, the Danish superstar bounced back brilliantly. In the first two games, both the players held their service. But, after that, Wozniacki went berserk. She got three consecutive breakthroughs and won the last five games in a row to win the second set by 6-1.

In the final set, Kuznetsova gave Wozniacki the first blow in the very first game. Both the players held their service in the next five games and at the end of the sixth game; the score was 4-2 in the favour of Kuznetsova. The Russian player broke Wozniacki’s service for the second time in the set in the seventh game and then, finished off the encounter with an easy serve hold in the 8^th game.

In the post match interview, Kuznetsova said, “The way Wozniacki played in the second set, I thought it was going to be tough work for me in the final set, but, all of a sudden, she lost her concentration which allowed me to run away with the match.”

Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva will take part in the ASB Classic tennis tournament which is going to be played from 31^st of December to 5^th of January at Auckland.

Kuznetsova had participated in this tournament in the last season as well and had performed quite well.  She had reached the semi finals.

On the other hand, Zvonareva hadn’t taken part in this tournament in the last season. But, she has performed well in this competition in the past. She had reached the final of this tournament in 2006 and 2007.

Confirming her participation in the tournament, Kuznetsova said, “It’s a great warm up tournament before the first Grand Slam of the year. I had performed well when I was here last time around, but, unfortunately, I hadn’t managed to win the title. Hopefully, I would go all the way through this time around and would start the season with a title win.”

On the other hand, Zvonareva said, “I have played here in the past and I enjoyed a lot playing here. My record here has also been quite good. I am looking forward to this year’s tournament.”

Apart from Kuznetsova and Zvonareva, some other quality players who are going to participate in this tournament are Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, Julia Goerges of Germany, Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium and Zheng Jie of China.

The director of the tournament Karl Budge was also present in the press conference. He said, “We want the standard of tennis in this tournament to be pretty high and that can happen only if some quality players participate in this tournament. We have been trying very hard for this and we are delighted that we have managed to sign quite a few top ranked players.”

Svetlana Kuznetsova will start the new season by taking part in the ASB Classic tournament which is going to be played at Auckland in January next year.

Kuznetsova didn’t perform up to her potential in the last season. She played well in patches, but, she looked out of sorts in most part of the season. The Russian player would definitely like to perform more consistently in the upcoming season.

Confirming her participation in the ASB Classic, Kuznetsova said, “I am glad to inform you all that I am going to start the new season by participating in the ASB Classic as I had done in the last season as well.”

“The last season didn’t go according to the plan and things went awfully wrong for me at times. But, I want to put all that out of my system now and just want to concentrate on the upcoming new season.”

“The ASB Classic would be the first tournament of the season for me, so, I would try my best to win it. When you win the opening tournament of the season, it sets the tempo for you. A good start of the season is very important.”

When asked whether she is fully fit at the moment or she still has a few niggles, Kuznetsova said, “I am 100% fit at the moment and I hope to remain fit throughout the next season. I struggled quite a lot with injuries in the last season which affected my form as well. When you start getting injured frequently, you tend to lose your confidence as well.”

When asked about her goals in the upcoming season, Kuznetsova said, “I have set the target of winning a couple of Grand Slams in the next season. It would be quite tough, but, I am backing myself to do it.”