Dinara Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova, the world’s best women claycourters this year, relied on their wealth of experience to set up an all-Russian final at the French Open on Thursday.
Safina, in pursuit of a maiden grand slam title, barely resembled a player who tops the world rankings but that did not stop her beating Slovakian teenager Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 6-3.
Seventh seed Kuznetsova also produced a scrappy, brittle and erratic performance before ending the run of Australian world No. 32 Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.
The Russian duo had been the favorites to reach the final before the start of the claycourt major and, after toiling in the sun for 12 days, they set up the first all-Russian final at Roland Garros since 2004.
The showdown should be an intriguing affair because since becoming world No. 1 in April, Safina has swept to a 20-1 record on clay. Her one loss was to Kuznetsova.
With so much at stake, it was little wonder that Safina wobbled at the start and Cibulkova pounced to nose into a 2-0 lead, ending both games by ripping passing shot winners.
It did not take Safina long to mete out some punishment of her own and she rattled through the next five games, but after earning three set points on the Cibulkova serve at 5-2 up the Russian fluffed all three with forehand errors.
Unfortunately for grand slam semi-final debutant Cibulkova, it was only a brief respite as Safina nailed the set in the next game when the Slovak failed to control her opponent’s whipped forehand.
Safina, who like her brother struggles to keep a lid on her emotions, clearly seemed more fired up in the second set.
Serving at 1-0 down, she flashed her eyes and smashed the ball into the ground following a dispute with the umpire.
The antics rumbled on in the next game.
As Cibulkova approached the net to check another mark, the Russian was loudly whistled by the crowd when she used her racket to scratch a large triangle around the ball imprint to ensure the umpire did not make a mistake this time round.
From then on, the 23-year-old cooled down, narrowed her eyes and slammed the door shut on Cibulkova.
“From my side it was really nervous tennis,” said Cibulkova, who has never won a title on tour. “I felt fresh and everything and I wanted to play good tennis but I didn’t make it mentally.”
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