Defeats Japan's Kurumi Nara in final to win WTA Washington Open
Svetlana Kuznetsova, of Russia, poses with the trophy after she beat Kurumi Nara, of Japan, in the women's final match at the Citi Open tennis tournament (Photo: AP)
Washington: Svetlana Kuznetsova, a two-time Grand Slam champion, snapped a four-year WTA title drought Sunday by outlasting Japan’s Kurumi Nara 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to win the WTA Washington Open. The 29-year-old Russian had not won a title since August of 2010 at San Diego but Kuznetsova, 20 times a WTA runner-up, broke Nara in the final game to collect her 14th career crown.
“It feels like it has been too long,” Kuznetsova said. “You really miss this feeling. It’s a nice feeling,” she added. Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open winner, had not reached a WTA final since 2011 until May in Oerias, Portugal. “It’s nice to get to the finals, but four years I’ve been struggling a lot. Now I’m playing much better, serving much better, moving much better,” said Kuznetsova.
Kuznetsova took the $43,000 (32,000 euro) top prize, while Nara collected $21,400 (15,935 euros). Nara, 22, won her first WTA title earlier this year at Rio de Janeiro and is set to surpass her career high of 38th in the rankings. “I was playing very well,” Nara said. “I did my best. I am disappointed but I have no regrets,” she added. Kuznetsova had never played Nara before and had seen only a handful of her points in matches this week. “I just came out there and tried to figure out how she plays. She plays a lot of spin, especially for a Japanese player. She runs and moves well,” she added.
( Source : AFP )
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