D. SAFINA/S. Kuznetsova
6-3, 6-2


Q. (Through translation.) How do you explain this defeat, given that you had arrived in the final with some great matches?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I'm thinking to myself, you know, I really cannot find the solution why I lost today. Like, you know, sometime I say to myself, I go to the match and like have to play the match. If other one better, this is it.
Dinara was playing good tennis. You know, she fight her way to the final unbelievably, because she was struggling a lot. She fights and she fights, and she won this tournament by fighting.
I could not manage to play my game at all today. I was doing too many unforced errors. I knew exactly what to do, but I could not do this. Things were not going my way.
Definitely I'm very disappointed about it, because I been playing much better. Today was not -- I wasn't doing anything, you know. She was doing the right things and I was not showing my game.

Q. You won last Sunday versus Dinara. What was the difference between Sunday and today?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: Well, last week I was dictating the game. I was serving and I was not doing that much unforced errors. I was moving and I was more patient than today. I was doing too much, and sometimes I was not doing anything.
So it was like a little bit Christmas today. I was giving too much presents. Especially it was a final, like, you know, she would not give it to me. I had to fight my way through.
She was taking her chances and she was attacking and she was doing the right thing, and I was not.


Q. Is it worrying when you know what's going wrong but you can't do anything about it?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: That was weird. I was feeling very stupid out there. I know exactly what's happening. I think this is matches which is taking me back, you know, like not bringing me forward to maybe No. 1 or to moving forward to winning more titles.
This is the key. If I can find the key winning these matches, it would be much different story.

Q. Even so, on the whole are you pleased with how the tournament went? Until the final you looked to be the most in-form player.
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I am. I felt great. But just things didn't go my way. I felt great. I felt like above, you know, above everybody. I was going along in the tournament and feeling like I was dictating, and today just didn't go my way.
I still to have think about it. It's not a drama, you know. I still won a tournament and I made a final. We were the two best players of these two weeks.
So I'm just looking forward to improve that, and it's nothing wrong. I'm just going work it through and just play better next weeks.


(via ASAP Sports, photo/Reuters Pictures)

Svetlana Kuznetsova - Rome 09. May Interview