Safina overcome by "The Kuz" and emotion in Roland Garros Final loss.

Down 4-2 in the 3rd set of the French Open Final, Dinara Safina looked to her coach and screamed "Why am I such a chicken, Why am I such a choker!?!" This outburst was the sound of the last nail being pounded into Safina's chances at finally winning a Grand Slam Final. She ended up losing to fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2.

Going into this mornings match I wanted Svetlana to win. Just so she could get the well deserved respect she deserves. "Kuzie" has been on the WTA for what seems like forever, but come to find out she is only 23 years old. In the past 4-5 years she has always been a consistent winner and a top 10, if not top 5 player. What seems to elude her is the respect and media attention that she deserves for being one of the top tennis players in the world over the past half-decade. When you hear womens tennis you think of a few last names. Sharapova, Williams, Ivanovic, Jankovic, Bychkova, Dushevina, and Weinerova. Haha maybe not the last 3, but they are personal favorites of mine.....Getting back on track now. You don't often hear of Svetlana Kuznetsova when being talked about the great womens tennis players of today. Yet without much fanfare or television coverage she consistently wins. I guess in order to be put on TV you must be pretty, or have some type of controversy or drama following you to be worthy of any mention of being "important". People who excel and put their all into their craft and each match they play being outshined by what new outfits Sharapova and the Williams sisters are wearing for this season. The American coverage is already pathetic enough, but this makes it even worse. I'll save this rant for another day. Its just sad, but it was good to see two players who only care about tennis finally getting a little attention for the blood, sweat, and tears they have put into being where they are today.

Kuznetsova has always been a player I liked to follow. I think it may be because she seems to be the ultimate underdog. She's a very good player, but not considered great, because she often comes up short in the big profile matches of Grand Slam events. I guess instead of "coming up short", it could better be described as "choking". There have been multiple times where she would be up in a match and looking to serve out the match for a victory over a higher profile player, just to have it all fall apart and lose in dramatic fashion. After seeing it happen once, you would think "no way could this happen again", just to see it not only happen again, but happen in a even more tragic way. Its almost become a habit for Svetlana to crash and burn when on the verge of victory. When most players after a few of these terrible defeats would pack their bags and fall to lower depths that only Nicole Vaidisova would know about, or even quit the game entirely. The Kuz, would just pack up her bags, go to the practice courts and begin the long hours of plugging away. In hopes next time would be different.

That next time was today. Last years Roland Garros runner-up Dinara Safina the number 1 player in the world was the challenger. Safina focused on finally getting the "never won a major" monkey off her back. Out to prove that she is deserving of the reigning queen of tennis. With all the pressure put on her by outsiders and mostly by herself Safina was beatin by the Kuz, and the moment.

The match in itself wasn't the most dramatic, or prettiest I have ever seen. A 6-4, 6-2 match normally isn't. Kuznetsova played with aggression, making Safina move and run and earn each point she got. Svetlana finally started to find some holes and take control of the match late in the first set. With each point lost Dinara became more and more upset with herself. Looking to her coach for any type of comforting gesture, letting out screams, and flailing her racket in the air after mis-hits. The pressure of the moment and the steady consistent play of The Kuz was taking their toll. It was in a way sad to see. I wanted Kuznetsova to win, because of her past experiences of failing and her past tummy pouch she used to sport. Everybody loves a underdog. But late in the match, I almost began to want Safina to make a comeback and make it an interesting match. Seeing someone who works so hard like Dinara Safina and wants to win so much fail isn't the easiest thing to watch. All this girl wants to do is play tennis and win. Seeing the best player in the world degrade herself and just fold under pressure is something I didn't like watching. Well atleast not to her. If it was some arrogant bitch like Sharapova, or the Williams sisters i'd be loving every second of it. Dinara Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova aren't the types to degrade competition after beating them. They treat their opponents with respect and more importantly the game of tennis with respect.

The final point of the match was a double-fault by Safina to give Kuznetsova the 2009 Roland Garros Championship. There wasn't a huge celebration by Svetlana. There was no rolling around in the clay, fist pumping, yelling and screaming. She simply put one hand up in the air in triumph, made the sign of the cross and walked over and shook hand, followed by kisses on the cheek by the competitors. Kuznetsova knows what its like to be on the losing side of these battles. She knows probably better than anyone how Safina was feeling at that moment. Looking across the net after seeing that 2nd serve go into the net, was probably like looking into a mirror. So she took the classy, graceful approach, and acted like she was expected to win, even though 2 weeks ago nobody would of dreamed she would of been even close.

So Svetlana, congratulations on an improbable run the past 2 weeks and a great victory. Enjoy it now, because i'm sure in a couple of weeks Sharapova's new "Wimbledon dress" will be more important to everyone than your Roland Garros Championship.