Svetlana Kuznetsova thinks that you can never praise enough. And give great praise to Roger Federer.
In Beijing in 2008, as Svetlana Kuznetsova told us a few years ago, the Russian woman took a heart at the Olympic Games and approached Roger Federer. Among colleagues, this was actually a matter of course, even though the Swiss did not have the reputation of refusing to enter into a conversation. Kuznetsova has nonetheless talked about overcoming them and asking Federer, four years older, for advice. And this as a player who had already risen to the rank of Grand Slam winner in 2004 with her triumph at the US Open.
Whether the words of the meanwhile 19-time Major-winner are connected with the fact that Svetlana Kuznetsova celebrated her second and until today last victory at one of the four biggest events in the tennis circus quite soon after Beijing is pure speculation. In any case, the affinity towards Roger Federer has remained.
“I feel that Roger is very nice to me and I like him even more now,”Kuznetsova told MatchTV,”he told me eight years ago that I was his favorite player. It was the greatest compliment ever. No one’s cooler than Roger. He’s from another planet.
In 2017, Kuznetsova finished 12th in the world, the sporting highlight of the season was quite early in the season: In Indian Wells, she reached the final, defeated her compatriot Elena Vesnina in three sets. After that, Kuznetsova was only able to set a few highlights, her last appearance date from the WTA tournament in Beijing.
At the beginning of November, the 17-time winner had to undergo an operation on her wrist on the tour, and the coming season plans a later start for Kuznetsova – a start at the Australian Open seems almost impossible.