The last of the women’s singles quarter-finals at the French Open promised to be the best. Serena Williams, the 2002 Roland Garros champion faced the 2006 finalist, Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in a match which the bookies were having trouble calling. Kuznetsova’s form over the clay season had been more solid than Serena’s, who as usual had undergone an in-and-out campaign marred by fitness issues and inconsistent performances in the lesser events.
Serena had wobbled a couple of times en route to the quarter-finals, dropping sets to unsung journey-women Klara Zakopalova and Maria Martinez Sanchez, while Kuznetzova, in contrast, had continued her impressive form, dropping just the one set in her first four matches while asserting herself as the clear second favourite for the tournament (behind the seemingly unbeatable Dinara Safina).
There is little doubt that were this match taking place in your average non-descript stop on tennis circuit then Kuzzie (as she’s known to her mates) would have started as clear favourite. However, as followers of women’s tennis know all too well, Serena in a Grand Slam is a different animal to at any other time: her motivation and competitive spirit is unquestionable and her performances speak for themselves (she has just the 10 Grand Slam titles to her name). Thus, a match where Kuzzie seemed the clear jolly was now more open for interpretation. One spread betting firm, taking a view on the match at odds with much of the market, went so far as to make Serena favourite.
Now, as good as her Grand Slam form may be, this seemed a step too far for me and, putting my faith in the Russian’s solid all-court game and praying that she would, for once, be able to close out a match against a top player, I DECIDED TO SELL SERENA’S 25:0 AT 12.75.
This meant that I would win 12.75 points if Serena lost and lose 12.25 points if she won – in other words, I was taking umbrage with the firm’s view that Serena was slight favourite for the contest and putting my faith in the talented, if flaky, Russian.
DURING THE MATCH
Kuzzie came flying out of the blocks on Court Suzanne Lenglen, winning the first three games of the contest and quickly asserting herself as a warm favourite for the match. After barely 10 minutes, my bet was seriously onside and I was tempted to close out there and then by buying Serena at 7.25 for a fast 5.5 point win. But then, I thought to myself, why? The bet was in great shape, Kuzzie was playing solidly and Serena didn’t look at the races. No reason to close, I reckoned; instead I’d let the bet ride and continue to enjoy watching this Kuzzie demolition job.
Big mistake, as it soon transpired, for while Serena had started the match looking like she’d just got out of bed, it was unrealistic to believe her sloppy play would continue forever. Williams forced the match into a first set tie-break and, despite a phenomenal series of points which Kuzzie put together to take it 7-3, was still looking in good shape to mount her inevitable charge.
Instead, history repeated itself in the second set: again Kuzzie took a 3-0 lead and at one stage led 5-3, with a chance to serve for the match. But again Serena came storming back, and Kuzzie’s inability to close out matches returned to haunt her as Serena broke twice more to take the set 7-5.
And so the match entered a third and deciding set and by this stage, there was little doubt who was favourite. The market clearly expected Serena to continue apace with her comeback and to close at the start of the set would have required buying Serena at 17, i.e. a loss of 4.25 points.
Instead, I again chose to hold on and let my bet ride, hoping beyond hope that Kuzzie would perform better from behind than she did as a front-runner. At 3-1 to Williams things were looking bleak, but now it was Kuzzie’s turn to mount a stirring comeback of her own. She wasted two match points at 4-5 in the final set after some strong serving from Serena kept her in the match, but Kuzzie refused to be denied and finally clinched the match in Serena’s next service game.
In a topsy-turvy match that showed the very best of the women’s game, it was the Russian who happily prevailed handing me a satisfying, if nerve-jangling, 12.75 point win.
JW
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