Kuznetsova could have outside chance

Three months into another predictably unpredictable season, the former  world number two Sevetlana Kuznetsova  split with coach Olga Morozova and hired former pro Amos Mansdorf as her new coach.  Although the Russian has slipped to number 26 in the world she remains a distinct possibility of winning in Paris at this years French open.

The reasons for this are that despite an up and down year,  the two-time Grand Slam champion beat former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic on red clay in the Fed Cup semifinals, before a poor performance in the final. Kuznetsova seems to lift her level against higher-ranked foes to gain traction on dirt. She’s 2-4 versus top-20 opponents this season after going 5-10 against top-20 players last season. Despite this it has been over two years since her last successful tournament.

Consistency has been the twenty six year old biggest concern, and she’s prone to flakiness and frustration under pressure. But the 2009 French Open champion has reached at least the quarterfinals in five of her past six appearances in Paris; she can alter the spin, speed and height of her shots and owns the variety that plays well on clay. Thus with some momentum and the continuation of strong performances against the top player, Kuznetsova may be able to recapture her form to challenge for a grand slam victory.

Despite this after a first round defeat in the Italian Open in Rome to Ana Ivanovic, and a two year slump in ranking and performance, it would seem to early in her recovery to the top of the game for a grand slam victory, although with a French Open victory in 2009, there is potential for her to turn back the clock.

FOCUS ON KUZNETSOVA

Svetlana was born in the year 1985 and is a Rusian professional Tennis player. Svetlana has not got much luck when it comes to the game o tennis. As of April 9, 2012 Svetlana Kuznetsova ranks number 27 while in the Women’s Tennis Association singles and number 27 in the doubles ranking of the same league. Apart from all of this, Svelana Kuznetsova appeared and participated in four grand slam singles and and won two of them while took part in seven double matches winning again only two of them.

In the year 2004, Svetlana Kuznetsova won her first grand slam award.  This award made her the third Russian women to win the title after Maria Sharapova and Anastaisa.  The second grand slam that Svetlana won was in the year 2009.  In the year 2011, Svetlana Kuznetsova’s first tournament was theASB Classic Open In Auckland. Immediately after this Svetlana shifted to Sydney for the  Medibank International Sydney.  In the Australian Open Svetlana Kuznetsova was seeded 23rd. and she lost in the fourth round to Shiavone.  This match was considered to be the longest match in the Open era among women grand slam matches.  The next tournament that came up was the Dubai Tennis Championship. However not only did Svetlana lose here in the top seed but also in the Qatar open  Svetlana lost against the eight seed.

After receiving a wildcard, Svetlana Kuznetsova seeded second at the 2011 Andalucia Teenis experience.  This time she moved to the semi finals but again lost against qualifier Irina Begu.

KUZNETSOVA STARTS CAMPAIGN

Svetlana Kuznetsova, the Russian tennis player is expecting to be 4th time lucky here as she tries to break her ‘jinx’ when the main draw of the Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open starts at the Dubai Tennis Stadium, tomorrow.

Kuznetsova, the losing finalist of last year had also made it to the end stages in the year 2004 and also in 2008, but she has not won a title year. Yesterday evening, the 2 time grand slam winner stated at the official draw ceremony of the event that apart from coming here and enjoying the warmth of the sun, it would be nice to go one better and win the title.

Attending the main draw was executive vice-chairman Colm McLoughlin, senior vice-president of corporate communications Salah Tahlak and vice-president of Tennis Emirates Abdul Rahman Falaknaz and WTA Supervisor Donna Kelso.

She said that she loves it here, particularly when the temperatures back home are minus ten and even minus twenty-seven, last week. She loves to spend a lot of time in Dubai during pre-season preparation too, and she is expecting that she can come up with a better performance this year. There is no secret, but just continue doing harder and harder on court and hopefully one day the title will be her.

Kuznetsova starts her campaign against Julia Goerges of Germany. Kuznetsova was one of the 3 tennis players present at the main draw with her 8th seed Jelena Jankovic and her compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

McLoughlin told that it is celebratory time for tennis, this year, due to the 20th anniversary celebrations. There will be an air of great excitement around the Dubai Tennis Stadium and the growth of tennis here has been in tandem with the growth of Dubai Duty Free.