Semifinal matches will be held on Saturday at the Kremlin Cup tennis tournament. But in five days, one of the most expensive and pathos of the capital’s sports competition has already left an impression that subsequent events are unlikely to change: “Kremlin Cup” -2006 is a huge celebration for which at the end of the season most tennis players had neither the strength nor the health.
It happens in life: invited to a birthday. And not someone, but the most close friends. And they promise unprecedented fun, and from experience you know that they do not lie, only now there are no forces anymore. On Monday, the colleague had a jubilee at work, on Wednesday - Constitution Day, and yesterday also Friday quietly crept up with all the resulting Saturday clouding. And in this state again in battle - well, do not offend the birthday man.
In approximately this state, with the transfer of loads from the liver to muscles, tennis players approached the main Russian tennis tournament - the Kremlin Cup. And of those who were invited to perform in Moscow in the first place, absolutely everyone came. Of the Russians, perhaps, only Nastya Myskina was missing, but she has a special case: a serious injury, because of which the tennis player will not be able to play until the end of the season.
The ambitious plans of the organizers to see exclusively domestic tennis players in the semifinals were dispelled on the first day. After losing the opening matches, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Mikhail Yuzhny, Dmitry Tursunov and Dinara Safina made it clear that the Kremlin Cup is too much. It was especially interesting to hear Kuznetsova’s speech at a press conference after the defeat. At first she complained of general fatigue in the official part, and a little later she confessed to her privately that she’s not interested in playing in Moscow: “If you come here, you need to hang out, walk". Those who did not dare to leave the holiday so early failed their health. Several tennis players immediately after the first matches admitted that they were playing in the tournament with injuries and could finish the performance at any time. Others refused further struggle, feeling the slightest indisposition. Among them, Maria Sharapova, who held the only match in Moscow against compatriot Ekaterina Bychkova and removed from the tournament: “After the first match, I felt severe pain in my leg. I couldn’t even walk. Therefore, I am forced to stop speaking. ” It will be fair to tell you about the new coating of the court, stiffness and color reminiscent of the color of Roland Garros clay courts.
It is always nice when stars of the first magnitude come to us. But the first category tournament with a prize pool of more than $ 2 million, which claims to be part of the prestigious Masters series, cannot use the coating, the quality of which is criticized even by the lazy, and they explain most of the injuries to them. “The courts really resemble the ground, but in reality they are much tougher and therefore more traumatic,” Nikolai Davydenko told the SPORT Today correspondent. “At the same time, they are also not quite even, and the longer the match lasts, the more noticeable it is.” It seems that abroad, having read in the newspapers about numerous injuries and paying attention to the name of the tournament, they will seriously think that tennis players in Moscow are playing on the cobblestones of Vasilyevsky Descent.
If we talk about those who do not drown in water, do not burn in the fire and have every chance of winning the tournament, this is primarily Marat Safin. That's who now every match is a joy. Having missed most of the previous season due to injury, Safin was looking for his game for another six months. A couple of months ago, Marat was on the verge of collapse, ending his performance at several tournaments in the first circles. In Moscow, Safin manages not only to win even the games that are unsuccessfully developing for him, but also simply enjoy his life by spending half a day in a cafe with many friends. It seems that in this tournament only this restless guy on the shoulder can win the main prize with a smile, not pain in his eyes.
Andrey IVANTSOV