Svetlana defeats No. 1 in the world to win in Paris final

Svetlana Kuznetsova fought through to get to the final of the French Open, where she faced compatriot and No. 1 seed and rank Dinara Safina. Kuznetsova was in her best form, and demolished her opponent in easy straight sets to gain her second Grand Slam title.

Kuznetsova made an impressive win, with a score of 64 62, improving the head-to-head result against Safina, making it 8-6, still in the lead of Safina, and now Safina has a 0-3 record in Grand Slam finals, after losing last year's French Open final and this year's Austrlian Open final.

"I came on the court and just played the match. Whether it's first or last match, I just do my best," Kuznetsova said. "I definitely have a lot of emotions right now but I'm controlling them. But the most important thing happened - I finally won here. My favorite tournaments are the US Open and here. It's very big for me."

"I put so much pressure on myself because I really wanted to win. And I just didn't handle it," said Safina, now 0-3 in Grand Slam singles finals. "I was a little desperate on the court. I didn't do the things I needed to do. I didn't stay tough mentally. Against Sveta you need to be aggressive but I was passive. I lost myself. But there are so many matches in life. This was just a bad match."

"She's an amazing athlete. She works very hard. One day she'll make it here," Kuznetsova said on Safina. "I respect her a lot. But she plays with too much pressure. I play just to have fun and enjoy it. It was the same when I went on court at the US Open. I thought, 'Everything's great. I'm doing the thing I love. It's my passion. It's my job. This is it.'"

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Singles - Final

(7) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. (1) Dinara Safina (RUS) 64 62