| Monday, 23 June 2008 Written by Adam Lincoln Women’s fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova danced with peril on infamous Court 2, beating French qualifier Mathilde Johansson in a tense encounter, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 6-3. Johansson, world ranked No. 124, made fewer unforced errors – 16, to the more fancied Russian’s 30 – and converted more break points, but Kuznetsova’s greater firepower and experience enabled her to conjure a last-minute escape. Although she captured the US Open title in 2004, Kuznetsova tends to fly under the radar of attention at Grand Slams, and her early loss at Eastbourne last week did little to boost her stocks ahead of The Championships. As top seed at the English coastal resort, the Russian fell in the second round to up-and-coming Dane Caroline Wozniacki – not the biggest shock in the world, but a far cry from her tournament-winning exploits of 2004. Wimbledon has not been the happiest hunting ground for the Russian, who has never advanced past the quarter-finals, but she got her campaign off to a good start by breaking Johansson early in the first set. The Frenchwoman’s elegant groundstrokes soon began to find their mark, however, and a sloppy service game by Kuznetsova at 5-4 allowed her to even the score. The Russian nosed ahead yet again in the tie-break, 5-2, but three forehand errors and a double fault presented Johansson with a set point. The French player's floating forehand approach received the treatment it deserved by Kuznetsova, who hammered a forehand pass crosscourt. But Johansson guessed the play correctly, and was in place to knock a volley to the open court. Purposeful play earned Johansson a break for 2-1 in the second set, but the advantage would be short-lived. Although the Frenchwoman made the better of the baseline rallies, Kuznetsova’s forays to the net kept her in the hunt. Indeed, midway through the second set the Russian had a perfect record of aggression: 13 winners for 13 approaches – a success rate that would only slip to 88 per cent by the end of the match. Still, at 5-5, the vibe of an upset had descended over the so-called Graveyard of Champions, and Kuznetsova can only have been relieved by Johansson’s uncharacteristically loose service game at 5-6. To her credit, Johansson, a late bloomer playing her first Wimbledon main draw match at the age of 23, didn’t crumble, at least not yet. Moving to a 2-0 and 3-2 lead in the third set she again seemed to have the upset in her sights. It was not to be. Kuznetsova levelled at 3-3 and, let out of jail, she broke for 5-3 and barely missed another beat.
|
