Petrova edges Kuznetsova
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ByEurosport
Published 07/10/2006 at 16:30 GMT
Nadia Petrova will play French teenager Tatiana Golovin in the final of the Stuttgart Grand Prix on Sunday. Fourth-seeded Petrova edged past fellow Russian and number two seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 1-6 6-4 in Saturday's semi-finals while Golovin upset f
TENNIS Nadia Petrova WTA Stuttgart 2006
Image credit: Reuters
"I'm very happy to get to another final," said Petrova, who has struggled since suffering a hip injury soon after winning in Berlin in May. "I've had some hard times and I now seem to be back on the track."
Petrova made a perfect start to a high-quality battle that remained in the balance until the final point, breaking her opponent to love in the opening game.
Using her strong serve and powerful groundstrokes to the full, Petrova broke again to lead 4-1 when Kuznetsova double-faulted and then netted a forehand.
The balance shifted in the second set as Kuznetsova's aggressive rallying forced Petrova into errors.
Kuznetsova was rewarded when a backhand half-volley from Petrova landed fractionally long to give her a break for 3-1 and she went on to claim the set.
The deciding set lasted more than an hour, with Petrova breaking for 3-1, immediately dropping her own serve and then failing to win any of three break points to lead 4-2.
Instead, she had to wait until the 10th game to break again, in fortunate circumstances. The umpire corrected a call that would have given Kuznetsova the game at 5-4, and Petrova went on to break and claim victory when Kuznetsova netted a forehand.
"The first set was excellent from me," said Petrova. "I really dominated it and Sveta didn't have any chances. Then in the second set she took over. She was really getting to balls and I could only follow them with my eyes and smile.
"In the third I just thought whatever happens, happens, just fight for every point."
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