page_title: Svetlana Kuznetsova
section_title: 2009: French Open title
hierarchical_section_title: Svetlana Kuznetsova / Career / 2009: French Open title
caption_attribution_description: Svetlana Kuznetsova against Akiko Morigami in the 2009 Wimbledon Championships first round
context_page_description: Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova is a Russian professional tennis player. She has appeared in four Grand Slam singles finals, winning two, and has also appeared in seven doubles finals, winning twice. As a doubles player, Kuznetsova has reached the finals of each Grand Slam event at least once, winning the Australian Open twice.
  Born to an athletic family, Kuznetsova moved at the age of seven to Spain to attend the Sanchez-Casal Academy. In 2001, she first took part in a WTA tournament, the Madrid Open, and a year later won her first WTA title at the Nordea Nordic Light Open in Helsinki, Finland. Her first appearance in a Grand Slam tournament was at the 2002 Australian Open and her first Grand Slam title came at the 2004 US Open over countrywoman Elena Dementieva, making her the third Russian woman to win a Grand Slam title, after Anastasia Myskina and Maria Sharapova. Kuznetsova's second Grand Slam title was the 2009 French Open, defeating compatriot Dinara Safina in the final in straight sets. At the 2006 French Open and the 2007 US Open singles tournament she was the runner-up, both times to Belgian player Justine Henin. As a result, Kuznetsova obtained a career-high No.
context_section_description: At the Australian Open, Kuznetsova reached the quarterfinals for the second time in her career, but lost to eventual champion Serena Williams, after being within two points of winning the match in the second set. After that, Kuznetsova did not win another match for nearly two months. She broke her losing streak at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, reaching the semifinals, losing to Victoria Azarenka.
  At the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Kuznetsova defeated world No. 3 Dementieva in the semifinals to reach her first final that year. She defeated world No. 1 Safina to win her first singles title since August 2007. The following week, Kuznetsova also reached the final at the Premier 5 Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, having defeated No. 4 Janković en route. She lost the championship to Safina. In the quarterfinals of the French Open she defeated Serena Williams in three sets before defeating Samantha Stosur to reach her fourth Grand Slam final. There she beat top seed Safina to win her second Grand Slam title. At Wimbledon, Kuznetsova fell in the third round to unseeded German Sabine Lisicki.
  She pulled out of the LA Women's Tennis Championships, citing a foot injury. Her next event was the Cincinnati Open, where she fell to Clijsters in the third round. She then played in the Rogers Cup and lost to Samantha Stosur in the second round. She received a wildcard entrance to the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven, but lost in the quarterfinals to Mauresmo. This became her last tournament as first seeded. At the US Open she won in straight set wins over Görges, Sevastova, and Peer, but lost against Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round. At the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, seeded fifth, she lost to Andrea Petkovic.
  A week later, she played at China Open as the sixth seed. She advanced to the final beating Petrova in the semifinal and won against Agnieszka Radwańska in the final. Soon after, she played at the Tour Championships in Doha. She entered the Maroon group along with Dementieva, Serena Williams and Venus Williams, and lost both her matches against the Williams sisters. She defeated Dementieva, breaking her eight–match losing streak at the Championships. Kuznetsova ended the year ranked No. 3.
caption: Kuznetsova at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships
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