Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva have women the Australian Open 2012 womens doubles over Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
“We were a last-moment sign-up for doubles and I think we were pretty good at it,” Kuznetsova said to the crowd at Rod Laver Arena after the match.
Russian Fed Cup team is looking very strong this year!
Svetlana Kuznetsova has decided to start the year off with a new coach. Svetlana rehired Olga Morozova as her coach. Kuznetsova is currently training with Morozova in Dubai ready for the hot Australian summer. It will be very interesting to see if she is able to improve her performances from 2011, where she didnt do so well.
There were a whole host of tennis professionals that attended the recent wedding of Elena Dementieva. Maria Kirilenko, Igo Andreev, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Vera Zvonareva, Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Vesnina and Vera Dushevina, among others.
“They were sitting with us, talking on the microphone, they were dancing together. It was unbelievable. Normally when you go to wedding, you are sitting and watching and it’s kind of boring.”
Kirilenko said that the newlyweds performed a duet, singing a love song to each other while dancing. “Elena told me they practiced a lot. I was surprised she sang well.”
Mens Singles:
In the first match Roger Federer was up against Stanislas Wawrinka and it was anticipated to be a close encounter. However, Roger had other things on his mind and swept aside Wawrinka in straight sets 6-3 6-2 7-5.
Novak Djokovic extended his amazing run with a straight sets win over Richard Gasquet. It was amazing to see Djokovic make Gasquet look like an average player. Djokovic won 6-4 6-4 6-2 and keeps his amazing 2011 run going.
In the last match it was Fabio Fognini against Albert Montanes. Both players are well known clay court player and Fognini prevailed in an amazing five set match 4-6 6-4 3-6 6-3 11-9.
Womens Singles:
Marion Bartoli continued her great form with a win over Gisela Dulko. Dulko unfortunately had to retire at the start of the second set. Bartoli was leading 7-5 1-0 at the time.
In the other match Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Vera Zvonareva 7-6 2-6 6-2, Francesca Schiavone defeated Jelena Jankovic 6-3 2-6 6-4, and Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Daniela Hantuchova 6-7 6-3 6-2.
Mens Singles:
In the mens first round we saw the early performances from David Ferrer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who both won their matches in straight sets. Ferrer looked incredibly good as he swept past a strong Jarkko Nieminen.
In other results Julien Benneteau performed well in front of his local crowd, while Stanislas Wawrinka looked at home on the French clay. The only real upset of the day was Marin Cilic (19) falling to Spaniard Ruber Ramirez Hidalgo.
Womens Singles:
Julia Goerges has continued her great form with a very strong performance in the first round defeating Mathilda Johansson. Winners also included Samantha Stosur, Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Pavluchenkova.
The only real upsets on the womens side of the draw was Shahar Peer (19) losing to Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, and Flavia Pennetta (18) being defeated by Varvara Lepchenko in three very tough sets.
Overall:
The performances of the day definitely came from Samantha Stosur who will look to go one step better this year and win the title. While on the mens side David Ferrer was very strong and it will take a lot to defeat him on the clay.
After losing her second round match at Wimbledon, Svetlana Kuznetsova refused to shake hands with Anastasia Rodionova. Radionova who is now an Australian citizen defeated Kuznetsova 6-2 2-6 6-4.
Radionova is known for on-court theatrics and tactics. During the match Radionova questioned a huge amount of line calls and even went for a medical break due to a back injury. I think the back injury was just a load of crap! Back in 2007 in Cincinnati she was defaulted from a match for unsportsmanlike conduct in a similar situation. Seems like most players on tour havent forgot about this just yet!
Anastasia Rodionova’s comments on the match:
I don’t know what happened, I guess Svetlana was disappointed. It doesn’t really bother me. I go out there and try my best, every single match that I play.
I’m happy that I won the match and I’m looking forward to my next round. I played really well and I served really well. I felt really good on the court. It can’t even compare to my first round.
And what about suggestions the injury was not as severe as she claimed?
I strained a muscle a bit on my hip at the beginning of the second set. I’m fine. I have a bit of history there and I wanted to make sure it was nothing serious.
Svetlana Kuznetsova is planning on giving away most of the prizemoney from her French Open title to her church!
“I am planning to buy an accommodation in Moscow, I am still renting an apartment. Also, I have promised to myself to buy a good expensive watch. The majority of the money I am going to donate to my church. There the director of orthodox temple is my spiritual father. I try to to be there as often as possible, to think about something personal, something eternal. But I have a very busy schedule. Occasionally, the father himself visits me. … No matter how strange it sounds, I am a very religious person and try to attend church even in other countries.”
Is it just me or does this simply sound crazy. Maybe it is time I started the next religion and then got people to give their money to me.
Dinara played a great match this morning against Dominika Cibulkova, defeating the less experienced player 6-3 6-3. While the match this afternoon was a great one to watch as it was back and forth. Svetlana Kuznetsova won the first set 6-4 then was leading slightly in the second set 6-5 and then 5-2 in the tiebreak, but was unable to capitalise on her opportunities and Samantha Stosur came back to win the second set 7-5 in the tiebreak. In the final set Svetlana has taken an early lead and built up a 5-2, before closing out the match 6-3 in the third set.
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