Translated material
Boomerang Strike
Kuznetsova made Safina understand Sharapova’s condition
The winner of the 2004 US Open, St. Petersburg resident Svetlana Kuznetsova, reached the semi-finals of Roland Garros. Yesterday she beat Muscovite Dinara Safina - 7:6 (7:5), 6:0. The first game of this match exactly the opposite repeated the decisive set of the previous round meeting between Safina and Sharapova. Then Maria was in the lead with a score of 5:1, but was unable to win the last game, faced with the inspired actions of her opponent. On Tuesday, Dinara received a boomerang blow - she was still confidently leading 5:1 and did not maintain the advantage, which led to her further complete defeat. In the second game, Safina successfully completed only three balls out of 27.Having made three breaks in the opening of the match, the capital's tennis player secured a solid advantage. Similarly, in the 1/8 finals, Italian Francesca Schiavvone outplayed Kuznetsova, who for the second match in a row managed to turn the course of the meeting 180 degrees. If Svetlana achieved a turning point in the match with a girl from the Apennine Peninsula starting from the second game, then in the game against her compatriot she did not put the matter on the back burner. The seventh game turned out to be key psychologically. On Kuznetsova’s serve, the referee recorded the score “exactly” nine times, and Safina received two opportunities to convert a set point. The score 5:1 was on the scoreboard for almost a quarter of an hour, until our prima from the banks of the Neva finally reduced the gap to 2:5. Dinara seemed to have no reason to despair, because she still had two more guaranteed attempts to finish the game by winning her serve, but the situation had already changed.
On an emotional high, Kuznetsova restored the status quo - 5:5, taking advantage of her opponent's mistakes - twice she started “her” rallies at 0:30. In the 11th game, the US Open champion led 30:15 after an ace and immediately made a double fault. Safina's fourth break again put Svetlana in a critical position. Dinara did not take advantage of the gift provided, the game reached a tie-break, in which the St. Petersburg athlete immediately began to dictate her terms - 4:0, then 6:3. Using the last of her strength, Sharapova's offender reduced the gap to a minimum, but still lost the game. After this, not even the slightest hint of a fight remained in the fight - Safina completely broke down. She capitulated within 20 minutes, independently winning only one (?!) point in the second game - her opponent lost the other two herself as a result of a double fault and an ordinary miss.
“At the beginning of the meeting, I was noticeably nervous, I couldn’t keep up with the ball, but something similar had already happened to me at this tournament - in the game with the Italian Schiavvone,” said Kuznetsova. “That’s why I was ready for such a turn of events and temporary setbacks did not unsettle me. I maintained my presence of mind and forced myself to look carefully at the other side of the court in time. Yes, Safina also made mistakes, and at some point I realized that she was not very confident in her final victory over me.”
Kuznetsova’s opponent in the semifinals is 17-year-old Czech Nicole Vaidishova, an undisputed contender for the unofficial title of the thunder of the authorities of the current Roland Garros. In the quarterfinals, the Prague teenager sent the world number one Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo to rest, yesterday she stopped the five-time winner of the Grand Slam tournaments, the American Venus Williams - 6:7 (5:7), 6:1, 6:3. Despite Vaidishova’s youth, it is necessary to note the consistency of her performances at major tournaments. At both last year's US Open and at the Australian Open last January, she reached the fourth round.
The second pair of the semi-finals was made up of the Belgians - Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters, irreconcilable rivals and not at all friends, who this season again, after a three-year break, joined forces in the national team of their country and already defeated the Russians in the opening round of the World Group of the Fed Cup. Henin-Hardenne yesterday prevailed over German Anna Lena Grunefeld - 7:5, 6:2, Clijsters turned out to be stronger than Swiss Martina Hingis - 7:6 (7:5), 6:1.
If Kuznetsova met Vaidishova only once and won in the third round of last year’s Wimbledon - 7:5, 6:7 (5:7), 6:2, then the Belgians have been playing each other constantly since 1998, when both were green juniors. The match score is 10:9 in favor of Clijsters. At the same time, the battles on clay remained for Henin-Hardenne - 4:1, and of these five matches, Justine played two victorious games against her compatriot at the French Open - in 2001 and 2003.
Late in the evening the quarterfinal battle between Nikolai Davydenko and David Nalbandyan ended. The Argentine won - 6:3, 6:3, 2:6, 6:4.