Sydney: Kuznetsova Interview
An interview with Svetlana Kuznetsova after her win in the quarterfinals at the Apia International Sydney.
An interview with Svetlana Kuznetsova after her win in the quarterfinals at the Apia International Sydney.
Belinda Bencic takes on Ekaterina Makarova in the quarterfinals of the Apia International Sydney.
The penultimate stop-off on wtatennis.com’s trip down Olympics memory lane is the 2008 Games in Beijing, which saw a clean sweep of the medals from tennis’ new world order…
Beijing, China, 2008
Olympic Green Tennis Center
Hardcourt
For a Russian athlete there is no greater prize in sport than an Olympic gold medal. It is fitting therefore that for Elena Dementieva, so often the bridesmaid at tennis’ biggest events, the site of her greatest triumph was the Beijing Games.
Eight years after announcing herself to the tennis world with an unexpected silver medal in Sydney, Dementieva went one better in Beijing – a surprise winner in a tournament full of surprises.
A regular figure at the business end of majors, Dementieva enjoyed a smooth passage through the opening rounds and into a quarterfinal with Serena Williams.
Five previous encounters with Williams had brought just one win, but in Beijing Dementieva was a woman on a mission, producing a stirring comeback to triumph in three.
Meeting her in the semifinals was compatriot Vera Zvonareva, who had taken advantage of No.1 seed Ana Ivanovic’s 11th hour withdrawal to advance from the top section.
She was no match for an inspired Dementieva however, who, with the draw now shorn of many of her tormentors in chief, was not about to take her eye off the ball.
And so to the final where another Russian, Dinara Safina, was lying in wait.
Coming into the Games, Safina was in the form of her life and looking to add a golden finish to a summer that had already seen her pick up silverware in Berlin, Los Angeles and Montréal.
A round earlier Safina had dashed China’s dreams of a home gold medalist by knocking out Li Na and when she took the opening set in the final it looked like she would be putting paid to her teammate’s too.
Then midway through the second set, Safina began to lose her way. Whether it was magnitude of the situation playing on the mind or just an arduous summer schedule finally catching up with her is uncertain. What was certain is that it left the door ajar for a Dementieva comeback.
From then on, it was less about forehands and backhands and all about who wanted it more. There was only ever going to be one winner.
After nicking an error-strewn second set, the momentum was now with Dementieva and she was not about to hand it back. As the match edged towards the two and a half hour mark, Dementieva arrived at match point.
One crisp forehand down-the-line winner later and she sunk to her knees an Olympic champion.
“It’s a huge moment for Russia,” Dementieva said. “I know we were expecting and planning some medals from our team. But I don’t think anyone could expect three medals.”
“This is a dream for every athlete, just to be here. But to be an Olympic champion, this is the top of the career.”
——
Olympic Memories: Athens
Olympic Memories: Sydney
Olympic Memories: Atlanta
Olympic Memories: Barcelona
Olympic Memories: Seoul
Highlights from the quarterfinal round action at the Apia International Sydney.
CoCo Vandeweghe hits the practice court and gives us a taste at life in the Olympic Village on this episode of CoCo’s Olympic Video Blog!
SYDNEY, Australia – It was a dream day for Svetlana Kuznetsova on Friday, as she not only scored her biggest win in six and a half years against Simona Halep in a rain-delayed semifinal, but she then played a near-flawless final against Monica Puig to win the Premier-level Apia International Sydney.
Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Sydney right here on wtatennis.com!
Just hours after completing a 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 semifinal victory against No.2-ranked, No.1-seeded Halep – her biggest win since defeating then-World No.1 Dinara Safina in the final of the 2009 French Open – Kuznetsova completely overpowered Puerto Rican qualifier Puig for the Sydney title, 6-0, 6-2.
Kuznetsova won more than twice as many points as Puig in the 55-minute demolition, 53 to 23.
“It’s great. I mean, honestly, I didn’t expect this, but I’ve also never gone into a tournament thinking about winning, never even once,” Kuznetsova said after the match. “I just went out there and performed, and everything went my way. Now I just want to keep focused for the Australian Open.”
The Russian, who picked up her 16th WTA title – a haul that includes two Grand Slams – was asked how she recovered so well after a near-three-hour match against Halep to play so well against Puig.
“Actually somebody asked me before the match, the supervisor, ‘How do you feel?’ Everybody probably thinks because I’m 30 that I’m really old and need to pick myself up. But I felt great. I felt better than most days here. First matches of the year you’re sore, but after you get going, it’s great.”
She was also asked whether she thinks it’s possible to win another Grand Slam title: “I never dreamed of winning one. I never thought of winning one. It just happens behind hard work, effort, and just having pleasure playing tennis. If I have this opportunity and I can take it, I would love to, of course.
“But if not, my life isn’t going to end. I love the game. It’s great I can still win titles.”
Puig still has a lot to celebrate – she reached the first Premier final of her career in Sydney.
“There wasn’t really too much I could do. I definitely ran around the court and tried to get every single ball I could back, but the only answer I have today is that she was the better player,” Puig commented. “I had an incredible week coming through qualifying, my first time here in Sydney, and I made my first final of a Premier tournament. Overall it was a very good week and I’m very happy about it.
“I’m really not going to get disheartened about this final. She just played unbelievable.”
FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil – Irina-Camelia Begu produced a stirring fightback to defeat Timea Babos and win the Brasil Tennis Cup on Friday.
After looking out of sorts in the first set, Begu dragged herself back into the contest to halt Babos’ charge in the second. A break in the ninth game saw her take the match the distance and despite falling 2-0 behind in the decider she rallied once more to win, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
“During the match I didn’t start really well – I was a little bit tense and focusing too much on the negative rather than the positive things I was doing. Then I realized I had to make the most of the situation, if the forehand wasn’t working I needed to use the backhand more,” Begu said. “I think it was more mental because I really wanted to win the title.”
The result secures Begu the third title of her career, reaffirming a love affair with the country which played such a crucial role in her comeback from a serious shoulder injury.
“This country is really special for me. In 2014, I was around 130, 140 [in the rankings], I don’t really remember, and I started with the small tournaments, then Florianopolis and Rio,” Begu said. “Being here for five weeks I got to see that the people are really nice, the food is great, too. I was also doing well, winning some of the tournaments, the $25Ks, so it was a nice comeback for me. If I have the chance I will come back again!”
Victory also provides the perfect send-off ahead of the Romanian’s trip up the coast to Rio where she will compete in her second Olympics, beginning her challenge against Nao Hibino. Babos, whose four-year wait to add to her solitary WTA title continues, meanwhile has a day to lick her wounds before a first-round meeting against Petra Kvitova.
“It was a difficult final emotionally, especially as I felt I had it in my hands, then only at the end I realize I’ve lost,” Babos said afterwards. “Of course I was playing against a very good player – she was fighting all the way – but I thought that I was playing better and I had many, many, many opportunities, so obviously I’m sad to lose this final.”
Alizé Cornet captured her first title since 2014, dropping just three games in the final of the Hobart International to beat comeback kid Eugenie Bouchard.
NANCHANG, China – Duan Ying-Ying capped a winning week at the Jiangxi Open with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 upset over No.6 seed Vania King to win her first-ever WTA trophy.
Watch live action from Nanchang this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Playing in the biggest final of her career, Duan recovered from a slow start against the two-time Grand Slam doubles champion, who spent the first eight months of 2015 off the court due to a back injury, to strike gold at home in a two-hour epic.
“I’m very happy to win my first ever WTA singles title, especially with my low back injury and the hot weather here,” Duan said after the match.
“Vania played really well in the first set. My coach gave me some advice during the second set. He asked me to improve my speed a bit and I did so. It worked.”
Down a set and a break, Duan immediately broke back and saved another six break points in her next three service games to put her in position to take a lead of her own and level the match.
“I didn’t expect so many fans to come today. I was really glad to have them cheer for me; their support helped me get through.”
The final set proved decisive for Duan, who broke serve to start and never looked back, serving out her first title to love.
“Winning this title boosted my confidence a lot. I hope to keep up the form and play well at US Open. It’s a really well-organized event this year. I hope to come back next year.
“I might go to see a movie tonight to celebrate!”
In the doubles final, unseeded Chinese pair Liang Chen and Lu Jing-Jing won tense battle against Japanese duo and No.2 seeds Shuko Aoyama and Makoto Ninomiya, 3-6, 7-6(2), 13-11.
Thanks for your fantastic performance in the past week.??See you next year in #Nanchang !#DuanYingYing @queen_v21 pic.twitter.com/LjfYvVoBVy
— Jiangxi Open (@JiangxiOpen) August 7, 2016
MELBOURNE, Australia – Alizé Cornet started her 2016 season with a flourish last week, winning the Hobart International for her first title since 2014. The No.43 lost just one set all week and ran away with the title in Saturday’s final, beating a resurgent Eugenie Bouchard 6-1, 6-2 for her fifth career title. So excited was the already excitable Frenchwoman, she went so far as to thank her dog Andy – a 10-year-old Jack Russell terrier named after Andy Roddick – in her victory speech. The emotions were plain to see. This meant a lot.
Cornet describes her 2015 season as decidedly average. She began the season at No.20, having scored three wins over Serena Williams in 2014, but struggled in the latter half of the year to finish at No.43, her lowest ranking since 2012. After some soul-searching, she decided a change was in order. She brought on a new coach in Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh, former coach to Angelique Kerber, and changed her training base to Nice. With a new team and a renewed sense of urgency, she trained hard over the off-season. But she never expected the pay-off to come so quickly.
WTA Insider sat down with Cornet at Melbourne Park, where she had just arrived after a quick flight from Hobart the night before. She describes her lowest moment of last year, her perilous relationship to confidence, and how a conversation with Patrick Mouratoglou put her career back on track.
WTA Insider: What does this title mean for you?
Cornet: It means a lot actually. It’s the reward for all the hard work I did during the last couple of months during the pre-season preparation. So I’m really really happy and proud that it’s already working out for me. It’s paying off and it feels amazing.
I had such a great week there. I was playing good tennis, good attitude on the court, great fighting spirit as always. It’s amazing when you have the trophy and you don’t lose a match in the week.
WTA Insider: You had such a great season in 2014. Is it fair to say that 2015 was average for you?
Cornet: The first part of the season was not so bad. Roland Garros I made the fourth round. The second part of the season was just a disaster. I was motivated but I was a little bit sad on the court. I was practicing really hard and I didn’t have any results. I was getting really tired of tennis.
But a career is very long and there are a lot of up and downs. You have to try to hang on and try to stick to your dreams and to your passion for the game. That’s what I did. I restructured myself in the winter. I found a new academy with new coaches and new staff with me. Now I feel like a totally new player. Now I want to forget 2015 and learn what I can from that year but now I really want to show the improvements that I made during this off-season.
WTA Insider: Sometimes the tour can get stale. Same team, same schedule, same cities. Sometimes players make a change just to keep things fresh. Is that what happened here?
Cornet: The thing is it has to be a good change. If you change to change it doesn’t work either. Last year I stopped with my coach Biljana Veselinovic right after Wimbledon. Then I finished the season alone. I was totally alone for the last five months. It was good but really tough at the same time. I really needed someone at that point but I couldn’t find a good person so I preferred to be alone.
So then talking to Patrick Mouratoglou I decided to go back to the south of France and practice in his new academy in Nice. He asked me if I wanted to work with one of his coaches there, Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh. I said of yeah why not, I trust you, I’m gonna try. It clicked right away with this coach. I also had a new physical coach.
It was just the right change at the right moment. I didn’t rush and I was waiting for the good person to take care of my tennis. I think I found it.
Now I’m traveling with a hitting partner because my coach is not traveling, he’s staying at home at the academy. I have this structure that I was dreaming about. So that’s why I feel good on the court and totally ready for new challenges this year.
WTA Insider: What was your focus during the off-season?
Cornet: Physically I have a good base. It’s one of my strengths. We just had to gain 2-5% to be more efficient on court.
I think the big work was on the tennis side. I spent a lot of time on the tennis court. Benny my coach was not changing things but trying to improve things by doing lots of repetition. In the beginning it was tough because the rhythm was crazy. I was coming back home at night and I was totally dead. I couldn’t even cook for myself I could only lie on the couch. But it was worth it because now that I see the results I’m just very happy.
WTA Insider: Did you think you lost your tennis in 2015?
Cornet: You can lose your tennis. You don’t know exactly what to do on the court, how to move, how to play the right shots in the right moments.
The scary thing is you can lose it so fast. It takes months to have confidence and it can take days to lose it. This is really tricky. That’s why you have to keep working all the time and keep working the good way with the good person. That’s very important. Because when you start losing your way it’s very tough to find it again. I guess I lost it for a while.
WTA Insider: What was your worst moment last year?
Cornet: The US Open. It’s been maybe three years since I lost in the first round of a Slam. I was supposed to win this one. I was so much ahead in the score and then I got confused once more and I ended up losing. This was really painful. From this moment I just told myself you really have to do something with your career because you’re just losing it. That’s when I talked to Patrick and really tried to restructure myself.
WTA Insider: So you worked really hard in the off-season and felt like a new player. When you landed in Hobart last week, did you believe you could win the title?
Cornet: I was playing some really good tennis in Brisbane. I felt that I was close to something really good but I didn’t think it would happen so fast.
Some players say when they arrive at the tournament that I’m going to win the tournament. I always keep it in the back of my mind but I never convinced I’m going to win it. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I have a lack of confidence but it’s like this. It’s always unexpected when I win a title because it’s amazing. We play maybe 30 weeks during the year and there’s not many weeks when you end the week without losing a match. Now I arrive for the Australian Open in the best condition, in the perfect mood, and some victories behind me, so it’s great.
WTA Insider: There’s been some talk about the dangers of playing a tournament the week before a Slam. Do you think it can be a curse?
Cornet: I arrived Saturday night. It’s a good thing I’m playing on Tuesday. Actually I hurt myself a little bit in the final. So it can be a good thing or a bad thing. For sure, physically you lose a little bit energy. But you win so much confidence. So you just have to follow your instincts. I felt like I needed some matches before the Australian Open that’s what I did and I don’t regret anything.
WTA Insider: You played so well in the final and the scoreline was quite easy. At what point did you allow yourself to think you were going to win the title?
Cornet: I try to play point after point. I try not to think about the future. This is the best way to lose yourself during a match.
I saw on the court that I was playing better than her. I was handling the wind much better. She was getting frustrated but I really needed to stay in the match because I knew she wouldn’t give it to me. She’s a great champion, she’s a very good tennis player. So I really tried to stay focused and not think about the victory that was coming closer and closer. Then you have all the relief on the match point.
WTA Insider: During the trophy ceremony you thanked your dog. What was that about?
Cornet: They are totally part of the family. When I am so far away from my family for so long I miss them so much and my dog is just part of it. I could just thank my mother, my father, my boyfriend and not mention my dog. I couldn’t do it! I was picturing my whole family in front of the TV with my dog and it just came.