Svetlana Kuznetsova faced history-maker Destanee Aiava, who became the first player born in the 2000s to be part of a WTA main draw, let alone to win a match. The 16 year-old rising star from Australia defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the first set, coming from a set down to do so. Whereas, Kuznetsova had a much easier first round match against Louisa Chirico, clinching the match in straight sets.

This time, it was once again Kuznetsova who triumphed in straight sets, but it was still an impressive performance by Aiava, who managed to trouble the Russian with her powerful game and strong forehands.

Perfect start for Kuznetsova

A perfect start to the match saw Kuznetsova break to 15 in the opening game of the match, which was helped by Kuznetsova’s excellent returns. After an exchange of service holds, Aiava had a great opportunity to break back and level the set as she earned two break points. However, Kuznetsova dismissed any chance of a slip-up as she saved those break points, one with an Aiava unforced error on a second serve return, and another on a strong 170 km/h ace down the tee. As both players looked very comfortable in their service games, there were no breaks of serve that followed in the set, with Kuznetsova clinching the first set after 37 minutes mainly thanks to the advantage of a sole break in the first game.

Aiava serving in the match | Photo: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images AsiaPac
Aiava serving in the match | Photo: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images AsiaPac

Kuznetsova seals the victory

The second set started with an exchange of service holds, and Kuznetsova was the one who made the early breakthrough once again as she broke serve for just the second time in the morning, with some excellent forehands. With the momentum in Kuznetsova and the decreased confidence in Aiava, the Australian was broken once again at 4-2, causing her to fall behind by a double break which gave the Russian a chance to serve out the match. However, it was not meant to be so simple though, as Aiava stepped up her game with the support of the home crowd to get back one of the breaks when she broke Kuznetsova’s serve to love. Serving to stay in the match, Aiava crumbled to the pressure after going ahead 40-15 in the game, and gifted the match to Kuznetsova after just 1 hour and 11 minutes.

Kuznetsova hits her famous backhand slice | Photo: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images AsiaPac
Kuznetsova hits her famous backhand slice | Photo: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images AsiaPac

Match Statistics

Kuznetsova ended the match with her serving statistics being very impressive, having hit 8 aces past her opponent who is close to half her age. Hitting 72% of first serves in, the Russian also won an impressive 82% of first serve points, showing how powerful and consistent it is. Whereas, for Aiava, she won 68% of first serve points, which can be considered excellent for a 16 year-old against a top 10 player in the rankings. Both players often saw their offensive play backfiring on them as they often hit the easiest shots wide or into the net, as seen in their total unforced errors count of 41.

Next up for Kuznetsova

The fifth-seeded Russian would now face the fourth-seeded Garbine Muguruza in the quarterfinal, being the tightest quarterfinal of the tournament. Muguruza leads their head-to-head record by 2-1, winning their only meeting on a hard court at the year-end championship at the WTA Finals. Already-qualified Kuznetsova won the first set then, but Muguruza bounced back to win the match in three sets, losing just one more game in the match to clinch her first win of her Singapore campaign.  It would be a tough match-up for Kuznetsova, but she would be delighted with the fact that Muguruza won both of her matches in over two hours, and would be much more fatigued.

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About the author
Don Han
Don Han is a young tennis writer who aspires to be a full-time sports journalist in the future, supporting Russian players along the way.