Without diminishing the merits of the winners of the “Kremlin Cup” -2006, it must be said that there was virtually no one to compete with domestic tennis players this year. Participants who came from other countries, pulled on favorites only names, but not in the game. For example, in the men's part of the tournament, the best foreigner was Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, who occupies 26th place in the ATP rating. And he lost, by the way, already in the first round. But if the modest composition of men's competitions can still be attributed to the coincidence of its terms with major tournaments in Vienna and Stockholm, then it’s unlikely that anyone will be able to explain why we received the “lame landing" of stars in the women's program.
And, admittedly, the organizers guessed it by placing a bet on domestic talents in the first place. When and where will our fans still be able to see firsthand the duels of Safin and Dyvydenko, Zvonareva and Kuznetsova, Dementieva and Chakvetadze? It only remained to honestly rename the “Kremlin Cup” in the championship of Russia. Fortunately, the successes of our tennis players today are really so numerous that strong participants will be enough for the entire tournament bracket.
What is at least the victory of Anna Chakvetadze worth it! Of course, she has long outgrown the level of the promising: appearances for the national team and several high-profile victories in the WTA round are proof of this. But it is here and now that we saw how talented this girl is and how interesting tennis shows. Although Anna was opposed by the not-so-healthy Nadezhda Petrova in the decisive match, but complaining of injuries as well, Nadya beat the not-so-weak rivals on her way to the finals: Gronefeld, Likhovtseva, Zvonareva, Vaidisheva. But during the final match, it seemed that it was Petrova, who screamed and threw a racket almost after every point lost, tried to take a pressure, is still inexperienced and only breaks into the top ten ranking. And calm, like a boa constrictor, Chakvetadze, whose victory was won, first of all, thanks to the right tactics, has long been in the elite.
Tennis Chakvetadze in the final of the “Kremlin Cup” reminded Martin Hingis in the best years: the same magnificent vision of the court, very soft and even elegant movements for the moments, the same bet on the combinational variety of the game. And, if Anna successfully passes the test of psychological stability, which many rising stars cannot cope with, the future of this tennis player seems very successful.
But, recognizing the strength and success of Russian women's tennis, we must admit that with special interest we expected a decisive match in the men's tournament. Here we do not have many stars, but each one is worth its weight in gold. And it was difficult to imagine a more desirable ending than Davydenko-Safin. Replacing any of the participants in this match with Roddick, Lyubichich and, perhaps, Nadal and Federer would greatly diminish his interest for us.
Was there any intrigue in this finale? If you believe the opinion of tennis experts, then there were almost none. Despite reaching the final Safin, his game so far is built more on emotions, courage. And against these arguments concentrated in every match, Davydenko is not enough.
Marat already achieved a good result for himself at the Kremlin Cup. But the main thing: we saw Safin, able to achieve victories in unsuccessful matches, to break the course of the game, which this tennis player lacked in more prosperous times.
“The ending season was one of the worst in my career,” Safin admitted at the final press conference. - There were a lot of disappointing defeats. Plus, an injured leg hurt. But the performance at the Kremlin Cup, which I still consider successful, will give me confidence. And even this year you can still see my victory in one tournament. ”
We look forward to it, Marat. And I really want this to happen in the Davis Cup final.
Andrey IVANTSOV