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Tennis Weekly Wrap: Kuznetsova Shines, Djokovic Defies Expectations
by Nadya Vlassoff
The newly restructured China Open was set to be
one of the biggest premier tournaments of the
year with an increased collective purse of over
$6 million. The majority of the top seeds were
all set to play more than a month after the end
of the U.S. Open. Organizers were thrilled with
the return of Rafael Nadal, who had struggled
since the last grand slam of the year with an
abdominal injury. Maria Sharapova had just come
off her first tournament win of the season in
Tokyo and China had a slew of players in the draw,
which included the highest seeded Chinese woman,
Na Li, and the crafty Shuai Peng.
In the first few rounds, the top seeded women began to fall as Venus Williams, Jelena Jankovic, Elena Dementieva, Maria Sharapova, and Dinara Safina all lost. With her second round exit, Dinara Safina finally gave up her hold on the #1 ranking and Serena Williams took over the top spot once again. However, the celebration was cut short as Serena lost in the third round to Nadia Petrova in three sets. While the loss went down to a tiebreak in the final set, it was Petrova who managed to pull away with great defense that had been sorely lacking from her game in the last few months. Petrova looked unstoppable into the next round where she took on Shuai Peng who defeated Jelena Jankovic and Maria Sharapova consecutively to set up a quarter-final match-up with Petrova.
 It
was Svetlana Kuznetsova who got the better of
Nadia Petrova in the semi-finals. Kuznetsova,
who had struggled with her serve earlier, looked
fresh and had little trouble dispatching Petrova
in straight sets. Svetlana was strong off the
baseline but was quick to defend and picked
up the same pace she had en route to her French
Open title this year. It would be a harder task
still for Kuzzie in the final against Agnieszka
Radwanska of Poland who has hovered around the
top 10 for some time now. Radwanska had few
answers for the dominant Russian who hit with
speed and accuracy in the first set to break
Radwanska twice. In the second set Radwanska
settled into her game and began to play off
the baseline in order to match Kuznetsova’s
power. It was Radwanska who faltered first and
Kuznetsova never looked back as she took the
decisive break in the second set to cement her
win.
It is the third title of the year for Svetlana Kuznetsova, which further proves that the persistent Kuznetsova deserves her spot in the year end championship. Radwanska is still vying for a spot in Doha as she moves into the top 10 as of October 12. If Radwanska continues to play this well, she could be packing her bags for her first ever, WTA year-end championship.
In the men’s draw, several notable faces were absent as Roger Federer and Andy Murray took a respite from the China Open. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were ready to redeem themselves after the U.S. Open but faced a crowded field. With no first round bye, Andy Roddick got a surprise when the unseeded Lukasz Kubot defeated him in straight sets in the opening round. Roddick continued to struggle and has yet to make it past the third round of a tournament since mid-August.
 Rafael
Nadal and Novak Djokovic played well through
to the quarter-finals where Nadal faced Marat
Safin. As his final year on tour winds down,
Safin reached the quarterfinals for only the
second time this year. It could have been a
late season miracle for Safin after he took
out the 7th seeded Fernando Gonzalez in the
second round but Nadal proved to be too tough
for the former world #1 Russian. In the semi-finals,
Nadal took on Marin Cilic, who made an impressive
run at the U.S. Open and has improved his game
throughout the year. Cilic used his height and
his wingspan to his advantage as he dismantled
Nadal in straight sets and gave up only four
games to the Spaniard.
In the final, Cilic faced Novak Djokovic but Cilic’s good fortune ran out as Djokovic forced the error in the second set tiebreak to take the match. While neither player had a particularly strong service game in the second set, it was Djokovic who used his experience to wait out Cilic. It was still a strong tournament for Cilic who is battling to break into the top 10. Djokovic added to his trophy haul for the year with his third title and a chance to close in on the 3rd ranking spot, which he lost to Andy Murray.
It is now three-all for both Svetlana Kuznetsova and Novak Djokovic. With the year-end championships in sight, both the men and women are ready to make the final push to take home another trophy and an even bigger purse.
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