Kuznetsova sets her sights on Dubai glory
dubai — After three finals appearances over 13 years, tour veteran Svetlana Kuznetsova has set her sights on finally laying claim to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships trophy.
The 31-year-old Russian has fallen just short on three occasions, finishing as runner-up to Justine Henin in 2004, Elena Dementieva in 2008 and Caroline Wozniacki in 2011. But the tour veteran is now playing her best tennis in years and after Wimbledon last year her efforts were rewarded with a return to the top 10 for the first time since 2010.
She continued to go from strength to strength during the second half of the 2016 season, retaining her Moscow title, reaching the semifinals of Wuhan and Tianjin and the quarterfinals of Montreal and Cincinnati before finishing the year with a run to the semifinals of the WTA Finals in Singapore. Her run to the fourth round at the Australian Open this year before falling to Anastasia Pavyluchenkova saw her climb in the rankings to number eight.
With her ranking restored and dozens of wins under her belt, Kuznetsova has gained in confidence and senses that she has earned a new respect from her rivals.
“People see me differently now because I’m a top 10 player again,” she said. “Players will only see you by the ranking, and ranking reflects everything. You can’t cheat the ranking, that’s for sure!
“All players want to beat me. Of course, everyone expects good tennis from me and that can be hard to deal with. But I feel confident, I feel happy and healthy. Those are the main things and I love the game. I enjoy it.”
Her biggest challenge has often been in finding consistency, and that is reflected in her results at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. As well as her three finals she has reached the semifinals twice, but she has also twice lost to Julia Goerges in the first round, twice lost to a qualifier and been beaten by wild card Sania Mirza. In 2013 she even had to fight her way through the qualifying rounds.
“I would love to take some of the consistency into this season. In the last few years, I haven’t been so good,” she admits.