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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 24, 2010

Svetlana Kuznetsova

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

N. PETROVA/S. Kuznetsova
6-3, 3-6, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. After you won the second set, you got the early break, but what went wrong for you?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I mean, I had advantage. I had Love-30 the second game on my serve. I fighted back. I had advantage. I had 40-30. I served to her backhand and she just returned it too good. I lost that game and I stopped a little bit.
I was disappointed losing serve. I still was thinking about service game. By then she already won her serve and everything start to go so fast. She just made me -- I played bad game at 2-1, she broke me. I mean, since there, she started to get more confident.
And me, I lost confidence. I was very frustrated. That was the main mistake for me. I had to hold at 1-Love.

Q. So you lost a little bit of concentration after this?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: Well, I mean, I was a little bit frustrating after I lost my serve at 1-Love, and then, I mean, she got into the game. She started to play better and I started to play worse.
I was struggling with finding my rhythm all the match. But in the second set I managed to find it and I started to play better. And I cannot stop at 1-Love. I did stop. I cannot allow that in fourth round to do that to myself. I didn't deserve to win.
She played good. I give credit to her. It's the best I seen her play last two years I think, but I didn't deserve to win because I was not playing good enough. I was doing too many unforced errors. I didn't serve good. I was just struggling to find my game.

Q. What was the key to her today? What was her strength?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I mean, I think she played good third set. But I still gave it to her. Too easy, you know. I had to fighted. I think she served good. She plays good backhand, was flat. Was hard to do something from it. She played some good shots from short forehand angles. That's it.

Q. Does it irk you that it's a Grand Slam and you're not where you want to be?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: Australia is always hard for me. First Grand Slam of the year, first part of the year. I only played a few matches. I couldn't manage. I would like to play more before Australia, but I couldn't. I still couldn't find my rhythm.
It's very disappointing because I thought he played very well in preparation. I was doing great. But this shows it's not only practice. Again, you know, it's the things you do in the match, how you manage to get the matches under your belt.
I was struggling a little bit other matches. I was not good today. I think I deserve to lose.

Q. Is part of that the weird scheduling, rain disruptions in the first round, late night, then the doubles? Does that play into the rhythm at all?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I mean, that's hard because, you know, in first match it was rain. You sit for half an hour, you play one point, half an hour. I play another match good schedule. Then I have to go to bed at 4:00 in the morning. Next day, of course, I wake up early because I'm used to wake up at 9:00. I sleep only a few hours. I play a three set match of doubles. Then today they put me second.
It changes things. But to play good and try to win Grand Slams, you have to be able to perform and to pass through difficult moments like this. Definitely it was not the best schedule for me. But, you know, it's not an excuse at all. I had all the chances to win today, I just didn't use it. This is final.

Q. You said you felt Nadia played really well today. Were you surprised by the level she reached?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: No. I mean, you have to play well if you beat Kim 6-Love, 6-1. For sure, Kim was not at her best level to lose like that. It's not only Nadia who played good.
But definitely she's getting confidence and she's playing at her best level that I seen her lately. Definitely she can get much better. And my level was lower than I have to play.

End of FastScripts

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