WUHAN, China – Svetlana Kuznetsova’s self-awareness never ceases to disarm a press room. The Russian was the last teenager to win her maiden Slam, which she did at the 2004 US Open at 19 years old. Over a decade on, the 31-year-old is set to return to her highest ranking since 2010, moving as high as No.7 after making the semifinals of this week’s Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Kuznetsova is in good position to finish her year inside the Top 10 for the first time since 2009 and qualify for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for the first time since that same year. All that is to say, the veteran is in the midst of an impressive career-turnaround, having been ranked as low as No.85 just three years ago:
Over the last two years, Kuznetsova stopped caring about her ranking or even her results. She just wanted to enjoy her tennis again and go back to playing her creative and, for better or worse, unpredictable, creative game style. She fancies herself “an artist” on the court. When she plays her best, there’s little argument.
The result? A more relaxed, go with the flow Sveta. She finished last season by winning the Kremlin Cup and qualifying for the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai, then picked up right where she left off, winning the Apia International Sydnery in January. Then came a run to the final of the Miami Open, where she beat then-No.1 Serena Williams en route and has been a consistent feature in the quarterfinals or better.
“All the life for me is mental,” Kuznetsova told reporters after saving match point to beat Agnieszka Radwanska in Wuhan. The press corp laughed. Kuznetsova shot a knowing grin.
“Right before the match, [my coach]. Carlos told me, Do you remember the time you play in Madrid?
“I said, ‘No, I don’t.’
“He said, ‘You were up 6-3 in the tiebreak, and then you lost it’.
“I’m like, ‘Oh.’
“Then here I go. I’m like 6-3 up, then 6-All. I’m like, ‘Damn, why did he tell me that?’
“Then I still have sometimes negative things appear in your head and you have to turn them around. After the match I said to Carlos, ‘Why did you tell me that before the match?’
“He said, ‘I know, I know. I was stupid.'”
Over the years Kuznetsova has learned how to play tricks on her herself, to lie to her mind to get her body to do what she wants it to do. It’s part of the experience you gain as a veteran on tour and it’s particularly important at the end of the season, when fatigue can get the better of so many players.
“Like probably when I was 25, 26, I was like, Damn, I’m so tired,” Kuznetsova said. “Damn, when the season going to be over? Now I don’t feel tired because I believe it’s mental. If you say, ‘Oh, season is in the end, I’m tired,’ you will be tired.
“Now I know it’s not something, like, ‘I going to play for ages.’ It makes it easier for me. Now I know it’s a few years left. It’s like, ‘Do the best out of it and that’s it.’ When I was 25, I knew [my tennis career] was still long way to go. I was like, ‘Shit, I’m so tired.’
“Now I just enjoy it.”
Knowing that she is closer to the end of her career also helps take the pressure off. The prospect of competing is far less daunting, especially if you, as Kuznetsova does, trick yourself.
“I think about [retirement] in the positive way, to make me go for more,” Kuznetsova said, when asked how much she thinks about the end of her career. “I say, ‘Look, it’s one, two years, you’re done.’ Maybe it’s not [but] it’s something convincing. You have to work with yourself and find the keys to convince yourself to do good in the positive way. Whatever you say, it’s working. If it’s positive, it makes you go better, that’s good.
“Sometimes I have to lie to myself a little bit in a funny way. I say, ‘Yeah, it’s one tournament, that’s it.’ It’s not, it’s going to be more. But it helps mentally. If you think it very long-term, that comes very big in front of you, big wall. If you do short-term, is better.”
