Many tried to beat Nadal on the ground this season, but it turned out that even taking the set was too tough for anyone. In Monte Carlo, the first in line was Tomas Berdych, who won against Nadal three previous meetings. Tomash lost the first set to zero, in the second he didn’t even reach the tie-break. Then all eyes turned to Roger Federer. In short - Federer let us down.
In Barcelona, the main suspect was Guillermo Cañas. Kanyas, who is considered to be a primer rather than a generalist, twice managed to beat Federer on hard, and therefore came to the ground among the main favorites. The final in Barcelona caused a great stir and was called the battle of fed-beater. But Kanyas was not lucky, he had enough strength only for the first few games.
In Rome, in the initial stages, the intrigue was primarily associated with the South and Djokovic, because they were the last to beat Nadal on hard. And then there were no adventures - easy victories in two sets. And now, after the quarterfinal with Djokovic, it seemed that Nadal was already in the final, but Kolya Davydenko gave everyone a surprise.
Nicholas is usually heavily pulled into the ground after spring American hard. The results are unstable, so you never know what to expect. In Valencia, where the earth season opens, Davydenko never went further than the first round. In Monte Carlo in 2004, he had a quarter-finals, but in the last two years this tournament ended for Nikolai after the first match. This year, Kolya, apparently, got a good ground form already in Barcelona - he reached the quarter-finals. It is possible that he would have walked along the grid further, but was forced to withdraw due to the ridiculous injury received as a result of the unprofessionalism of the massage therapist there - Kolya's numb arm was numb after the massage. Who knows, maybe it was due to this injury that Guillermo Cañas, the quarterfinal rival of Davydenko, got into the Barcelona final. And, perhaps, it was precisely this trauma that prevented us from seeing Colin's potential on the eve of the “Masters” in Rome.
In Rome, no one expected Davydenko to have a successful performance, if only because at this tournament Nikolai had never passed further than the third round. And he didn’t have such victories in Rome that would make Nadal's fans worry before the semifinals - “lost” Safin, Starace, Robredo. And this is how it came out - two tie-breaks, 17 breaks for two, the first set won against Nadal on the ground this season. In fairness, it should be noted that Nadal was not quite in shape. Recently, Rafa’s game in a super-aggressive manner was not familiar, it was mostly old-style defensive tennis. But they say the same, that the opponent plays exactly as much as you allow him to play. Now, in Hamburg and on Roland Garros, Colin already has a turn to be listed in the main favorites.
If for Nikolay Davydenko to take a set from Nadal on the ground is already a great achievement, then Svetlana Kuznetsova in the match against Justine Henin needed only a victory. Tired of watching how one of the most talented tennis players on the tour over and over again inferior to the Belgian. Take the same Henin and Moresmo - account of personal meetings 7: 6. Or Henin and Clijsters - 12:10. And no matter in whose favor the score, the main thing is that the fight is visible to the naked eye, and the final result of each new meeting is always a big question. But you can’t look at the statistics of Kuznetsova and Henin without tears - it was 14: 1.
Justine is the most unpleasant opponent in the women's round, no one argues with this. But all the Russians who have a rich history of relations with Henin - Myskina, Dementieva, Petrova, Sharapova - had at least two victories over the Belgian. Among them were very important ones, for example, Sharapova’s triumph in the US Open final in 2006, Petrova’s victory in the Berlin final in 2006. In the end, Justine is also a man, she has her own weaknesses, she also has not the best days, unloved tournaments, and from time to time someone catches her with this, such as Lena Dementieva in Indiana in the same 2006- m And Svetlana met Justine only last year 5 times and did not win a single set.
Obviously, Kuznetsova’s problem is primarily of a psychological nature, something like the “Justine complex”. And this year, after another loss in Doha, Svetlana finally admitted this to others, and, most importantly, to herself.
And as soon as she admitted, things immediately got better. Although Sveta nevertheless made pretty worried this time. Having won the first set 6: 4, she led in the second with a 5: 3 break and filed for the match. And then, probably, for a while old Svetlana returned with all her fears and doubts, and lost 4 games in a row, and with them the set. In the third installment, a struggle ensued, and with a score of 3: 2 in favor of Kuznetsova at Enen's pitch, the match was postponed due to the onset of darkness. It was a hectic night for Russian fans, but, fortunately, Sveta managed to get together and finish the match in her favor.
For several consecutive years, Shamil Tarpishchev opens with the phrase "this year should be the year of Kuznetsova." Apparently, he was tired of saying the same thing already, and this year he changed the wording - "only she herself prevents Kuznetsova from becoming one." To our great regret, the final of Berlin, lost to Ane Ivanovich, once again confirmed this. Stability is still not about Kuznetsova. If she could concentrate in every match as against Justine, the year of Kuznetsova would have come long ago. Maybe Svetlana just needs to set a new goal - not to lose tournaments after defeating the first racket of the world?
Ksenia VITRYAK