Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova went into 2016 as the world number 25, with no one expecting her to achieve anything great. She proved everyone wrong when her consistent results silently pushed her back into the top 10 of the rankings for the first time since 2009. She once again proved that age does not matter when she reached the semifinals of the WTA Finals held in Singapore, something no one would have placed a bet on at the start of the year. 

Win-Loss Record

Kuznetsova had a 45-22 win-loss record for this season, winning more than 40 matches in a season for the first time since 2009. She also finished the year in the Top 10 for the first time since 2009 and won multiple titles for the first time, also since 2009. 15 of her 22 losses came against players who are lower ranked than her, and all of those came against players outside of the Top 20.

Best Performances

Win: Sydney International, Kremlin Cup
Final: Miami Open
Semifinal: Prague (Withdrew), Wuhan Open, Tianjin Open, WTA Finals
Quarterfinal: Rome Masters, Rogers Cup (Montreal), Cincinnati Masters

Kuznetsova started the season the best way possible, by prevailing in the Sydney International in a field which consisted of many quality players. The tournament was plagued with a massive amount of rain which made the semifinals to be played with the final on the same day. Nevertheless, Kuznetsova managed to defeat top seed Simona Halep in the semifinal and defeat qualifier Monica Puig in the final later in the day to win her 2nd Sydney title. 

She then produced a magical run to the final of the Miami Open, despite being faced with a very tough draw. She defeated Caroline Garcia in a match that ended 8-6 in the final set tiebreak, and then caused a massive upset when she defeated World No.1 and top seed Serena Williams in 3 sets despite losing the first set. She then defeated compatriot Ekaterina Makarova in 3 sets, followed by a win over former Top 10 player Timea Bacsinszky in the semifinal, progressing to her first Miami Open final since 2006. However, Kuznetsova failed to keep up the momentum and lost to Victoria Azarenka in straight sets, who managed to complete the “Sunshine Double”.

Kuznetsova posing with her runner-up trophy in Miami after she lost to Victoria Azarenka. Photo Source: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Kuznetsova posing with her runner-up trophy in Miami after she lost to Victoria Azarenka. Photo Source: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

She followed the final appearance at the Miami Open with a semifinal showing in Prague, before withdrawing due to an injury.

Coming through 3 tough opponents in Caroline Garcia, Samantha Stosur and Daria Gavrilova, Kuznetsova set up a rematch with World No.1 Serena Williams in the quarterfinal of the Rome Masters. However, this time it was Serena Williams who dominated and controlled the proceedings, only conceding 2 games in the 51 minutes match.

By reaching the fourth round in Wimbledon, Kuznetsova successfully returned to the Top 10 in the rankings after some impressive results in the past year.

After defeating 2 time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the third round of the Rogers Cup, Kuznetsova was the favourite to progress to the semifinal. However, Kuznetsova lost to Simona Halep in the quarterfinals, allowing her to take revenge for the loss in Sydney despite winning the first set. 

Despite saving a match point against Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinal of the Wuhan Open, Kuznetsova failed to keep up the good form when she lost to Dominika Cibulkova in the semifinals. Kuznetsova had also beaten Venus Williams and Belinda Bencic in the previous rounds coming into the semifinal. This semifinal run also gave Kuznetsova an outside chance to qualify for the WTA Finals.

Knowing that she needs to win the title in Moscow to be able to secure her qualification for the WTA Finals at the last minute, Kuznetsova is definitely bound to face a lot of pressure from herself and the media. Fortunately, as an experienced veteran, Kuznetsova managed to ignore the pressure and play her game, and that allowed her to storm through the draw and win the title. This meant that she managed to defend a title for the first time in her career, and qualify for the WTA Finals for the first time since 2009.

Kuznetsova posing with her trophy in Moscow. The title allowed her to qualify for the WTA Finals for the first time since 2009. Photo source: Kremlin Cup
Kuznetsova posing with her trophy in Moscow. The title allowed her to qualify for the WTA Finals for the first time since 2009. Photo source: Kremlin Cup

At the WTA Finals in Singapore, Kuznetsova was drawn into a very tough group with Radwanska, Pliskova and Muguruza. However, her magical run continued after she once again saved a match point to defeat Agnieszka Radwanska in her first Round Robin match. She then came from *6-5, 30-0 down to defeat Karolina Pliskova in her second Round Robin match, being the first player to secure a place in the semifinals. Despite winning the first set, Kuznetsova won only 1 more game as Garbine Muguruza powered past her to achieve her first win at the tournament this year. Kuznetsova then faced nemesis Dominika Cibulkova, who won all of their last 4 meetings. This time, Kuznetsova came very close to winning the match, having led 4-2 in the final set with game points for 5-2. However, she threw away the lead and lost 4 straight games in a row to lose the match which she should have won.

Kuznetsova celebrating a win over Karolina Pliskova in Singapore at the WTA Finals, after coming back from a set down. Photo: Getty Images
Kuznetsova celebrating a win over Karolina Pliskova in Singapore at the WTA Finals, after coming back from a set down. Photo: Getty Images

Low Points

Despite the successful season, Kuznetsova also had some low points during the season.  

Kuznetsova had a few early exits at the big tournaments and tournaments that she was the favourite to win at. For example, Kuznetsova exited in the second round of the ASB Classic despite being the favourite to reach the semifinal. She also failed to progress deep in the Grand Slams, losing in the 2nd round of the Australian Open and the US Open, and reaching the 4th round at Wimbledon and Roland Garros. However, her consistent deep runs at the normal tournaments managed to push her back into the Top 10.

Kuznetsova showing her frustration in her match against Sloane Stephens in the third round of Wimbledon. Photo by Sky Sports
Kuznetsova showing her frustration in her match against Sloane Stephens in the third round of Wimbledon. Photo by Sky Sports

She lost 15 matches to players outside of the Top 20, the most amongst any other player in the Top 10. To be a consistent figure appearing in the Top 10, Kuznetsova must win all the matches that she is expected to win, especially those against the players outside the Top 20, who she would usually face in the early rounds of the tournaments. 

Season Grade: A-

Despite some poor performances at several tournaments, she managed to perform well at some of the big tournaments, and performed well under tremendous pressure like at the Kremlin Cup when she knew that she needed to win the tournament in order for her to qualify for the WTA Finals. She also managed to return to the Top 10 for the first time since 2009, having her best season since 2009.

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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.