Sveta on the stretch 🏃♀️@SvetlanaK27 comes out firing winning 71% of first serve points to Barty's 45%. The Russian takes the opening set 6-2 over the top seed.#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/9uPnaVhjeE— Western & Southern Open (@CincyTennis) August 17, 2019
It's doubtful that anyone who wasn't throwing darts at a draw sheet picked Madison Keys and Svetlana Kuznetsova as the Cincinnati singles finalists. Well, maybe Keys, though her side of the draw also included world number 1 Naomi Osaka, defending champion and 5th seed Kiki Bertens, 2018 runner-up and 7th seed Simona Halep, and 7th seed Elina Svitolina.
Kuznetsova, on the other hand, got a wild card into the tournament and has been off of the tour quite a bit because of injuries. She is currently ranked number 153 in the world; on paper, she is an unlikely candidate to be one of the last two women standing. In reality, however, she has looked stunning throughout the tournamnent, and has taken out three top 10 players.
This morning, Kuznetsova handily defeated top seed Ash Barty, 6-2, 6-4, after which she presided over a very entertaining press conference in which she talked about the Russian way vs. the Spanish way: Kuznetsova did her early training in Spain, where she learned how to deliver her heavy topspin. "...why Russian people go so well with Spanish tennis," she said, is "because we are, like, really crazy and really go 100% and risk it. Spanish, they put us calmer." She went on to say that, despite that, sometimes she had to play "Russian."
"Everyone has a different mess in their head"
This cultural combination served her well today. Earlier in the week, Kuznetsova said that she likes to think a lot--"sometimes too much." But, she said today, "I learn so much to trust what I feel....Everyone has a different mess in their head." When asked about the possibility of playing Russian-born Sonya Kenin in the final, Kuznetsova said she knew that Kenin was playing really well, and that she "probably has less mess in her head."
Barty referred to Kuznetsova as "a legend in the sport," and said that the Russian "was in control from the get-go." The top seed went on to describe her opponent: "She's not a one-trick pony, and she's better at problem-solving than most."
Roaring into the final 🐯#CincyTennis | @Madison_Keys pic.twitter.com/ln3sBzgOdl— Western & Southern Open (@CincyTennis) August 17, 2019
Kuznetsova will need to do some problem-solving tomorrow because she'll be competing against a woman who has beaten her all three times that they've played. 16th seed Madison Keys, moving superbly around the court all week, defeated Kenin 7-5, 6-4 in a stunning display of shot-making and court coverage.
Here are the players' paths to the final:
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA
round 1--Anastasija Sevastova (11)
round 2--Dayana Yastremska
round 3--Sloane Stephens (8)
quarterfinals--Karolina Pliskova (3) [2016 champion]
semifinals--Ash Barty (1)
MADISON KEYS
round 1--Garbine Muguruza [2017 champion]
round 2--Daria Kasatkina
round 3--Simona Halep (4)
quarterfinals--Venus Williams
semifinals--Sonya Kenin
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