Svetlana Kuznetsova News

LONDON (AP) _ The two highest-ranked players in the first round of the Fed Cup will play in the opening singles matches for Russia on Saturday. Ninth-ranked Nadia Petrova and fifth-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova were picked Friday to lead a deep Russian team against Spain on clay at the Luzhniki Indoor arena. Petrova will open against Anabel Medina Garrigues and Kuznetsova, a former U.S. Open champion, will face Lourdes Dominguez-Lino. Maria ...

Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Elena Dementieva 7-5, 6-3 in an all-Russian match at the WTA Championships on Wednesday. The seventh-ranked Dementieva has now lost two matches after Tuesday's defeat to U.S. Open champion Maria Sharapova and has little chance of reaching the semifinals for the first time since 2000. Later, Sharapova played two-time champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium and opening day winner Nadia Petrova of Russia can inflict a second loss ...

Maria Sharapova of Russia beat two-time champion Belgium's Kim Clijsters 6-4, 6-4 at the WTA Championships on Wednesday, moving a step closer to a spot in the semifinals. In other matches, Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated fellow Russian Elena Dementieva 7-5, 6-3, and two-time winner Martina Hingis of Switzerland pulled out a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Russian Nadia Petrova. Hingis' victory means top-ranked Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo will not finish the year ...

Amelie Mauresmo wants tennis coaches to stay in the stands. Maria Sharapova had no idea coaches were even allowed on the court. Both players are competing at the Zurich Open, one of five tournaments where the WTA Tour is testing this rule change. ``Are they're doing that here?'' Sharapova said Tuesday. ``I didn't know.'' Coaching during matches has been barred from ATP, WTA and Grand Slam tournaments. But in an ...

Third-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia overcame cramps and unforced errors to beat Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 and reach the quarter-finals of the Porsche Grand Prix on Wednesday. Also gaining the quarter-finals was second-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, the former U.S. Open champion who swept past German wild-card Martina Muller 6-1, 6-4. In first-round matches, Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic, who lost in qualifying but replaced an injured ...

Top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo rallied for a 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (3) win over Jelena Jankovic to advance to the final of the China Open. Mauresmo will play second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, who cruised to the final with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Peng Shuai of China. Mauresmo looked on course for an easy win after the first set, but Jankovic, who reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at the recent U.S. Open, ...

Top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia beat defending champion American Lindsay Davenport 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) Saturday to advance to the final of the Wismilak International tennis tournament. Kuznetsova, who won the Wismilak title in 2002 and 2004, will next face the winner of the other semifinal between second-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland and sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli of France. Kuznetsova is now 2-3 against Davenport, and won for the first time in four matches against her.

Top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova eased past Erika Takao 6-1, 6-2 Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Wismilak International. Kuznetsova, No. 7 in the world, outplayed the 18-year-old Takao, who struggled with her serve while the Russian fired eight aces. Marion Bartoli defeated Casey Dellacqua 6-1, 6-3, and Hana Sromova advanced with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Aiko Nakamura. Melinda Czink beat hometown favorite Angelique Widjaja 7-6 (1), 6-1, and Elise ...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) _ Svetlana Kuznetsova wanted to get some work in before the U.S. Open. She got a little more than she had bargained for in the first set before beating American Jill Craybas 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-1 on Monday in the first round of the Pilot Pen. The first set lasted one hour 22 minutes and the final two took just 22 and 25 minutes. ...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) _ Svetlana Kuznetsova took advantage of fellow Russian Elena Dementieva's nine double faults and reached the Pilot Pen semifinal by winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 Thursday in a rematch of the 2004 U.S. Open final. ``Everybody knows that her serve is not the best thing in her game,'' said Kuznetsova, who won that Grand Slam championship. ``But still, she's improving the serve, and sometimes she ...