Russia – Svetlana Kuznetsova

RUSSIA LOSING OUT

Svetlana Kuznetsova’s countrywoman, Ekaterina Makarova, has been defeated by Polona Hercog in the second round of the China Open. Hercog won the match by 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(3). It was the third match between these two players and Hercog defeated Makarova for the first time.

The match went on for two hours and 48 minutes and two out of three sets went into the tie breaker.

In the opening set, Hercog got a breakthrough in the second game and she was ahead by 3-0 at the end of the third game. But, Makarova made a comeback and won four out of the next five games to level the scores. The next four games went with the serve and the set went into the tie breaker. In the tie breaker, the Slovenian player played slightly better than Makarova and won the first set.

In the second set, Makarova started brilliantly and broke Hercog’s service in the second game to get ahead by 2-0. She maintained the lead till the end of the set and sealed the second set by 6-3.

In the final set, Makarova was ahead by 5-2 at one point of time. But, all of a sudden, she lost the momentum. Her service was broken twice in the next five games and the scores were tied at 6-6 at the end of the 12^th game. The set was extended into the tie breaker again. Makarova didn’t manage to hold her nerves and lost the tie breaker again.

After winning the match, Hercog said, “It was a very close contest and I am delighted that I end up on the winning side. The pressure was huge in the tie breaker of the final set. Fortunately, I made a good start in the tie breaker and pulled off the victory.”

In the third round, Hercog will take on Maria Sharapova. When asked about that match, Hercog said, “Sharapova is in fantastic form at the moment and it will be very tough for me to go past her. I am looking forward to that match. Hopefully, I would put up a special performance on Thursday.”

On the other hand, Makarova was gutted with her performance. The Russian player said, “It certainly hurts if you lose the tie breaker in the final set of the match. I am hugely disappointed at the moment. Hercog soaked up the pressure better than me and that’s why, she won.”

RUSSIA ONLY MANAGE SILVER

Svetlana Kuznetsova’s countrywoman Maria Sharapova has been defeated by Serena Williams in the final of women’s tennis singles tournament of London Olympics. With this victory, Serena has won her first gold medal in the Olympic tennis singles event. Serena absolutely thrashed Sharapova. The Russian player was able to win only one game in the whole match. Serena won the match in the straight sets by 6-0, 6-1.

Serena played 6 matches in the competition and she won all the matches in the straight sets. It proved to be very difficult for any other player to give a tough fight to Serena. She dominated every opponent with his power game. She didn’t lose any set in the whole competition and continued her dream run at the Wimbledon court. With this victory, Serena has completed the Golden Slam. Serena was overjoyed after winning the gold medal in the singles event for the first time. She said that she has never been more happy than today. It is the biggest win of her career and she would never forget this day. She has been waiting for this day for so long and finally, she has done that.

After losing the match, Sharapova said that it was very hard to control the powerful shots of Serena. She was serving really well and she played some amazing groundstrokes. Meanwhile, Serena Williams has also won the gold medal in the doubles competition by playing with her sister Venus Williams. The Williams sisters defeated the Czech pair of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in the final match. The Williams sisters won the match in the straight sets by 6-4, 6-4. This is the third gold medal for the Williams sisters in the doubles event. They had also won the gold medal in the Sydney Olympics of 2000 and Beijing Olympics of 2008.

Kuznetsova not going to London as a Reserve

Russian tennis ace Svetlana Kuznetsova has made it clear that she will not travel to London as part of the tennis contingent of Russia as reserve player, in spite of her selection for that role.

The President of the Russian Tennis Federation had made it clear that the 27 year old would be a reserve player for the 6 member tennis contingent for the London Olympic Games, expected to be led by Maria Sharapova, the third ranked female tennis player in the world. Continue reading Kuznetsova not going to London as a Reserve