Kuzy Qualifies 4th for 8-Woman Year-End Championships
Posted on October 3, 2006Consecutive titles in August at Bali and Beijing have qualified Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova for the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships, which will take place next month, Nov. 7-12 in Madrid, Spain.
Kuznetsova is the fourth qualifier for the eight-woman field, joining world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, Justine Henin-Hardenne who is likely to be out of action with a knee injury until Madrid, and US Open winner Maria Sharapova.
The Russian qualified before only once, in 2004 when she won the US Open title, that year losing in the round robin portion of the competition with a 1-2 record.
"Qualifying for the Sony Ericsson Championships was one of the key targets I set for myself this year," Kuznetsova said. "I'm delighted to have made the Sony Ericsson Championships as one of the elite eight singles players and can't wait to get to Madrid, as I consider Spain to be a second home to me. It's going to be a fabulous week of tennis and more."
The 21-year-old and the three current or former No. 1s will be joined by four additional players, with Kim Clijsters, Martina Hingis, Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova leading the current contenders.
Swiss Patty Schnyder and Russian Dinara Safina are also in the running, with Nicole Vaidisova, Jelena Jankovic and Anastasia Myskina as dark horses, needing a number of late-round results to close the gap.
Mauresmo is the defending year-end champion, but currently trails Henin-Hardenne in the 2006-only points race.
Kuznetsova is the fourth qualifier for the eight-woman field, joining world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, Justine Henin-Hardenne who is likely to be out of action with a knee injury until Madrid, and US Open winner Maria Sharapova.
The Russian qualified before only once, in 2004 when she won the US Open title, that year losing in the round robin portion of the competition with a 1-2 record.
"Qualifying for the Sony Ericsson Championships was one of the key targets I set for myself this year," Kuznetsova said. "I'm delighted to have made the Sony Ericsson Championships as one of the elite eight singles players and can't wait to get to Madrid, as I consider Spain to be a second home to me. It's going to be a fabulous week of tennis and more."
The 21-year-old and the three current or former No. 1s will be joined by four additional players, with Kim Clijsters, Martina Hingis, Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova leading the current contenders.
Swiss Patty Schnyder and Russian Dinara Safina are also in the running, with Nicole Vaidisova, Jelena Jankovic and Anastasia Myskina as dark horses, needing a number of late-round results to close the gap.
Mauresmo is the defending year-end champion, but currently trails Henin-Hardenne in the 2006-only points race.