Svetlana Kuznetsova - Russian Tennis Champ

Family life

Kuznetsova was born in Leningrad. Her father Alexandr Kuznetsov has coached five Olympic and world cycling champions. Her father's protégés include her mother, Galina Tsareva, a six-time world champion and holder of 20 world records, and Svetlana’s brother, Nikolai Kuznetsov, a silver medalist at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Kuznetsova also tried out cycling in her early years, but it bored her. She focused on tennis instead and was sent to Spain when she was 13 years old for better training and coaching.

Tennis career

Doubles

Svetlana Kuznetsova is a frequent doubles player and has been ranked as high as third in the world (in June 2004). Kuznetsova teamed with Australia's Alicia Molik to win the 2005 Australian Open, defeating Americans Lindsay Davenport and Corina Morariu in the final. Kuznetsova has reached five other Grand Slam doubles finals, with Martina Navratilova, Elena Likhovtseva, and Amelie Mauresmo as her partners.

Singles

2004

Svetlana Kuznetsova won her only Grand Slam singles title at the US Open, where she defeated countrywoman Elena Dementieva in straight sets in an all-Russian final (the second in history after the Anastasia Myskina-Dementieva final at the French Open of the same year).

2005

At the US Open, Kuznetsova lost to Ekaterina Bychkova, becoming the first female defending champion at the US Open to lose in the first round.

2006

After an 18-month title drought, Svetlana Kuznetsova won the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida on April 1 beating Maria Sharapova 6–4, 6–3. At the French Open, Kuznetsova defeated 17 year old Czech Nicole Vaidisova in the semifinals 5–7, 7–6(5), 6–2 but lost in the final to Justine Henin.

At Wimbledon, Svetlana Kuznetsova survived a second-round match against Czech Kveta Peschke 4–6, 6–1, 6–4 but lost in the third round to eventual quarterfinalist Li Na 3–6, 6–2, 6–3.

After a month layoff because of an abdominal injury, Kuznetsova returned to the tour at the Tier I Rogers Cup in Montreal. She lost a close two-set match to Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals. At her next tournament, the Pilot Pen Tennis in New Haven, Connecticut, Svetlana Kuznetsova lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Henin.

At the US Open, Kuznetsova reached the fourth round where she lost to Jelena Jankovic. During the remainder of the year, Kuznetsova won singles titles at the Tier III Wismilak International in Bali, beating Marion Bartoli in the final, and the Tier II China Open in Beijing, defeating Mauresmo in the final.

2007

Svetlana Kuznetsova lost in the final of the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California to Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova. Reaching the final improved her ranking to a career high of World No. 3.

In May, she reached the final of another Tier I tournament, the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, losing to Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in a very tight match after defeating World No. 1 Justine Henin in the semifinals. Svetlana Kuznetsova also reached the final of the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome before losing to Jankovic.

Kuznetsova reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon but lost to 26th-seeded and three-time champion Venus Williams 6–3, 6–4.

During the North American summer hard court season, Kuznetsova won the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in unusual circumstances. She led Francesca Schiavone 6–2 in the quarterfinals before Schiavone retired; led Elena Dementieva 4–6, 6–3, 3–0 before Dementieva retired; and was behind Agnes Szavay 4–6, 3–0 when Szavay retired.

At the US Open, second-seeded Maria Sharapova and fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova were placed in the bottom half of the draw. Therefore, the two would have played in the semifinals had form held. However, because of Sharapova's loss in the third round to 30th seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, Kuznetsova as the highest seeded player remaining in the bottom half became favored to reach the final. Kuznetsova defeated Klara Zakopalova in the first round and French player Camille Pin in the second round 6–3, 4–6, 6–0. Kuznetsova then defeated Spanish player Anabel Medina Garrigues and Belarussian teen Victoria Azarenkain the next two rounds to advance to the quarterfinals.

This was the first time she had advanced beyond the fourth round since she won the event in 2004. Svetlana Kuznetsova then defeated Szavay in the quarterfinals and Anna Chakvetadze in the semifinals 3–6, 6–1, 6–1. Kuznetsova described the first set of that match as "embarrassing." In the final, Kuznetsova lost to Henin in straight sets, making numerous unforced errors. Nevertheless, her performance at the US Open caused her ranking to rise to a career-high World No. 2.

Svetlana Kuznetsova then went on to compete for Russia in the Fed Cup, winning both her rubbers and in the process helping Russia to retain the cup.

After reaching the semifinals in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Germany, losing to Tatiana Golovin 6–2, 6–4, she reached the semifinals of the Kremlin Cup, her best finish at the principal Russian tournament on the WTA Tour.

At the Sony Ericsson Championships, Kuznetsova lost to Sharapova (5–7, 6–2, 6–2), Ivanovic (6–1, 4–6, 7–5) and Daniela Hantuchova (7-6(7), 6-0) in the round-robin stage and therefore did not advance to the semifinals. It was her third appearance at the end-of-the-year championships and the third time she failed to advance.

2008

Svetlana Kuznetsova lost the final in Sydney to World No. 1 Justine Henin. Svetlana Kuznetsova was the second seed at the Australian Open but lost in third round to Agnieszka Radwanska 6–3, 6–4.

She defeated Jelena Jankovic at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships to reach the finals, but lost to compatriot Elena Dementieva 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

At the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, Kuznetsova received a bye in the first round before defeating each of her next three opponents in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, she defeated Agnieszka Radwanska 6–2, 6–4. Then, Kuznetsova stunned Maria Sharapova in the semifinals, 6–3, 5–7, 6–2. Sharapova had not lost during 2008 until that point. In the final, Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to top-seeded Ana Ivanovic in straight sets. In the Sony Ericsson Open the next week, Kuznetsova reached the semifinals but lost to defending champion and eventual winner Serena Williams.

Her clay court season was marred with inconsistency, as she lost in the third round of the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin to Alyona Bondarenko 1-6, 6-2, 6-2. In the third round of the Tier I event Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, she was stunned by qualifier and eventual runner-up Alize Cornet of France 6-2, 6-4.

At the French Open after that, Svetlana Kuznetsova eased into the semifinals without dropping a set, dispatching the likes of Vania King, Nadia Petrova, Victoria Azarenka and Kaia Kanepi along the way. However, she failed to find form against the recent Berlin winner Dinara Safina as she crumpled to a 6-3, 6-2 defeat.

At Wimbledon, Kuznetsova lost in the fourth round to Radwanska 6–4, 1–6, 7–5, after leading by a break in the third set.

Kuznetsova's poor year in major events continued in the summer, as she lost in the first round of the tennis event at the Beijing Olympics to Li Na and in the third round of the US Open to Katerina Srebotnik. After the latter loss, she dropped out of the top five on the world rankings for the first time in two years. However, after this, Kuznetsova won both her singles rubbers in Russia's victory over Italy in the Fed Cup final. The following week, Kuznetsova made her first final since March at the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, defeating World No. 2 Jankovic in the quarterfinals before going on to lose to Safina 6–1, 6–3 in the final. The following week, Kuznetsova reached the final at the China Open in Beijing, but lost there to Jankovic 6–3, 6–2. This marked Kuznetsova's 10 defeat in her last 11 finals. She completed the year by once again failing to advance past the preliminary round-robin stage at the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar, losing all three of her matches. Kuznetsova finished the year ranked World No. 8, but was the only woman in the top ten not to have won a title during the year.

2009

At the Australian Open, Kuznetsova reached the quarterfinals for the second time in her career, but lost there to eventual champion Serena Williams 5–7, 7–5, 6–1, after having been two points away from winning in the second set. After that, Kuznetsova did not win another match on the WTA Tour for nearly two months. She broke the losing streak at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, reaching the semifinals before losing there to Victoria Azarenka.Kuznetsova at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships.

Kuznetsova's form improved at the start of the clay-court season. At the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, Kuznetsova defeated World No. 3 Elena Dementieva 6–4, 6–2 in the semfinals to reach her first final of the year. There, she defeated World No. 1 Dinara Safina 6–4, 6–3 to win her first singles title since August 2007. The following week, Kuznetsova also reached the final at the Premier 5 Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, having defeated World No. 4 Jelena Jankovic en route. However, in the final, she lost to Safina 6–3, 6–2. As a consequence of her strong clay-court season, she was considered one of the favorites at the French Open. There, she defeated second seed Serena Williams in the quarterfinals 7–6 (7–3), 5–7, 7–5 where she recovered from a break down in the final set. In the semifinals, Kuznetsova defeated Samantha Stosur to reach the fourth Grand Slam final of her career, where she defeated top seed Safina 6–4, 6–2 to win the second Grand Slam title of her career. Kuznetsova returned to the top five on the world rankings as a result of her win.

At Wimbledon, Kuznetsova was defeated surprisingly in the third round, on her 24th birthday, by unseeded German Sabine Lisicki. She pulled out of the LA Women's Tennis Open, citing a foot injury. Her next event is part of the Olympus US Open Series, the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open. She received a first round bye and defeated Lucie Safarova 6–3, 6–7, 7–6 after leading 6–3, 5–2. She fell to Kim Clijsters in the third round, 6–4, 4–6, 6–2. She then played in the Rogers Cup and fell to Samantha Stosur, who she defeated in the French Open semifinals, in the second round. She recently received a wild card entrance to the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven. She lost in the quarterfinals to Amelie Mauresmo.

At the 2009 US Open she won in straight set wins over Gorges, Sevatsova, and Peer. But she surprisingly lost against Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round.

At the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, seeded fifth, she lost in her first match against Andrea Petkovic. The week later, she played at China Open as the sixth seed. She advanced to the final beating Nadia Petrovain the semifinal. She faced Agnieszka Radwanska in the final and won by 6–2, 6–4. This was her third title of the year.

Soon later, she reclaimed her world no.3 title and played at the 2009 WTA Tour Championships, the year end championships, in Doha, Qatar. She entered the Maroon group along with Elena Dementieva and the Williams Sisters, Serena Williams and Venus Williams. She lost both her matches against the Williams Sisters, by 6(6)-7, 5–7 against Serena despite having 2 set points in the first set, and by 2–6, 7–6(3), 4–6 against Venus. She, however, defeated Dementieva, breaking her 8-match losing streak at the Championships. The win did not do any good for her as Venus Williams became the last player to qualify to the semifinal from the Maroon group.

2010

Svetlana Kuznetsova began the year at the Medibank International in Sydney, Australia. She defeated Alisa Kleybanova in the first round before falling to Dominika Cibulkova in the second round.

Kuznetsova was seeded 3rd for the 2010 Australian Open. She advanced to the 4th round, where she lost 3–6, 6–3, 1–6, to #19 Nadia Petrova. Kuznetsova struggled with 52 unforced errors. Following the tournament, Kuznetsova fell to World No. 4.

At the 2010 Fed Cup, Kuznetsova defeated Ana Ivanovic to give Russia a 1–0 lead over Serbia. She then fell in three sets to Jelena Jankovic in reverse singles. She then partnered with Alisa Kleybanova to win the deciding doubles match over Ivanovic and Jankovic.

Kuznetsova was seeded 2nd for the Dubai Tennis Championships but fell in a shocking 3rd round upset to qualifier and world No. 99 Regina Kulikova 7–5, 6–7(2), 4–6.

At the Billie Jean King Cup, Kuznetsova lost her match 6–4 to Venus Williams.

Her losing streak continued at the BNP Paribas Open where she was the top seed, losing in the 2nd round to Carla Suarez Navarro, 4–6 6–4 1–6.

Svetlana Kuznetsova was seeded No.1 at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open and after a receiving a bye in the first round, managed to prevent another upset against her by defeating Peng Shuai in the second round 6–2, 3–6, 6–4. She then defeated 27th seed Agnes Szavay 6-2, 6-3 to book a fourth round encounter with 13th seed Marion Bartoli. She was defeated by the French No.1 6-3, 6-0 in just under an hour. Svetlana had pains in her shoulder and is expected to take time out to get treatment.

Svetlana Kuznetsova was the defending champion at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, but fell to Li Na in the second round.

At the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she reach the final the year before, she lost in the second round to Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

Her last tournament before the French Open was the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where she lose in the first round to Shahar Pe'er.

As the defending champion at the 2010 French Open, Svetlana Kuznetsova was the 6th seed. She defeated Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-1 in the first round and she faced Andrea Petkovic in the second round, who she defeated in three sets 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. In the third round she came up against the 30th seeded Maria Kirilenko who she lost to, also in three sets, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6. Due to this loss, she will lose 1840 ranking points, causing her to drop at least to outside the top 15.

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