Thursday, September 06, 2007

Steely Kuznetsova On Course for Second U.S. Open Crown

Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Hungarian teenager Agnes Szavay 6-1 6-4 to reach the U.S. Open semi-finals on Wednesday and believes she is a better player than when she won the title in 2004.


The St. Petersburg native was too consistent for the 18-year-old Szavay, who was appearing in her first grand-slam quarter-final, easing to victory in 67 minutes to set up a clash with her compatriot and sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze.



Szavay, who had to retire with a back injury after taking the first set off Kuznetsova in the New Haven event final just before the U.S. Open, looked nervous early in the match.

Kuznetsova took the first set in 26 minutes and broke in the first game of the second. Though Szavay lifted her game, the Russian held on to reach the semi-finals for the first time since her 2004 win.


Szavay thinks Kuznetsova has a great chance of winning the title.


“She’s

playing really, really good now,” Szavay said. “She has a good chance

to be in the final I guess. She has everything, serves good. Big, big

forehand and backhand also good. She’s tough mentally, so I think she

has good chances in this tournament.”








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