Deepak Jain>Wed, Jan 13 10 10:08 AM
Svetlana Kuznetsova will go into this year's Australian Open out of shape, out of form and without enough match practice.
And that is just the way the Russian likes it.
Unlike most of her rivals, Kuznetsova prefers to go into tournaments slightly undercooked, hoping to build her fitness and confidence as she progresses through the event.
If everything goes according to plan, the 24-year-old expects to peak in the final rounds just as her opponents are starting to melt under the blazing Australian sun.
It is a risky strategy with obvious dangers and one that has failed her in the past, at least in Australia.
In eight previous appearances at Melbourne Park, Kuznetsova has only made it past the fourth round on two occasions, in 2005 and again last year.
The world number three, however, maintains her seemingly flawed master plan is still the best approach for her and she remains at her most dangerous when least expected.
There is some evidence to support her argument. She won the U.S. Open as a teenager in 2004 after having never made it past the quarter-finals of any grand slam, then waited another five years before winning a second major, at last year's French Open.
"I don't like to come to grand slams in my best shape. This is what I hate," she told reporters at the Sydney International.
"If you think you're playing great and you're confident ... matches get complicated and you get frustrated, and this doesn't work for me.
"I like more to get into shape during the tournament."
As a two-time grand slam champion, Kuznetsova knows her days of sliding through the draw unnoticed are gone and she will be regarded as a serious contender regardless of her form.
An all-round player with a big serve and a heavy forehand, she also made the finals at the French Open in 2006 and the U.S. Open in 2007, and has made the quarter-finals at Wimbledon three times and the Australian Open twice.
ENCOURAGING SIGNS
Her power game is ideally suited to the synthetic hard courts at Melbourne Park and there were plenty of encouraging signs last year that she could make a real run at the title this month.
In the quarter-finals, she had eventual champion Serena Williams on the ropes when the weather conspired against her.
A once in a century heatwave forced the organisers to halt their match and close the roof at Rod Laver Arena.
The break allowed Williams to recover and, although Kuznetsova served for the match in the second set, the American went on to win in three.
"It's still frustrating to think about it," Kuznetsova said. "I think the closed roof suits her game much more than mine, so I was a little bit unlucky with that one."
The lone consolation for Kuznetsova was that she learnt from her loss in Australia. A few months later when rain interrupted her semi-final in Paris, she was able to find a way to win.
And her early form leading into the Australian Open has been mixed, just as she had hoped. She won her opening match in Sydney against her fellow Russian Alisa Kleybanova but bowed out in the second round to Dominika Cibulkova.
"It's not such a bad thing, it's not something that I'm gonna worry too much about," she said.
"I'm not coming in the best shape, I'm not coming with many matches to play for Melbourne.
"It's gonna depend on how I develop during the tournament (but) if I can manage to construct every match well, I may have a good chance."
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