Kuznetsova Separated from Group
Five players of Russia, Maria Sharapova, Dinara Safina, Vera Zvonareva, Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova are through in the ladies’ section to the round four of the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros. The last Russian, Nikolay Davydenko, was defeated Saturday.
Of 18 Russians, 13 play in one and the same half in the ladies’ section at Roland Garros tennis tournament. Therefore, the outcome with one of the finalists determined during the all-Russian battle appears a decided matter. Indeed, Maria Sharapova saw off Italy's Karin Knapp in the third round and progressed to round four to face Dinara Safina. Vera Zvonareva beat Alexandra Voznyak to set up the last 16 clash with Elena Dementieva, who won from Olga Govortsova. The winners of these two pairs will oppose each other in the quarterfinals.
Formally, Sharapova is the favorite of the battle with Safina. In addition to the status of the WTA number 1, Maria has the 3-2 personal winning score against Dinara. But given Sharapova’s performance at this Roland Garros, any outcome is possible. The winner of Dementieva-Zvonareva match is even more unclear. The score is 2-1 in Elena’s favor, but Vera won the last match in Charleston in mid-April.
But Svetlana Kuznetsova is apart. Exactly she may ensure the all-Russian semifinal and, therefore, guarantee the progress of a Russian to the final. Judging by her match with Nadia Petrova, the chance that she will succeed is solid, the more so that her future opponents aren’t the tennis stars. Svetlana plays Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the fourth round, whom she defeated in early April.
As to the men’s section of the French Open tennis tournament, the last Russian Nikolay Davydenko yielded to Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic May 31, 2008 despite that he had led two sets at the beginning.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of June 02, 2008
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