Safina and Kuznetsova Secure All Russian Final

5 months ago 05th Jun 11:08

World number one Dinara Safina will face Svetlana Kuznetsova in the women's final of the French Open tomorrow.

Safina was the heavy favourite to win the semi-final against Dominika Cibulkova however the match didn't start well for the Russian as Cibulkova held her nerve and broke the world number one to take a 2-0 lead.

But Safina settled into the match and reeled of five consecutive games as Cibulkova's game became littered with errors.

But Safina's game was far from perfect as she faced eight break points, but her opponent was only able to take advantage of one.

It's been an impressive clay court season for the Russian with wins in Rome and Madrid in recent weeks and she really has been the in-form player on the WTA Tour.

This is the second consecutive year that she has made the French Open final, losing out to Ivanovic last year after her game collapsed under the pressure.

This year she will face fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova who saw off Australia's Samantha Stosur in an exciting second semi final 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3.

Kuznetsova saw off Serena Williams in the semi final and was expected to see off the surprise package of Stosur who is finally finding some form after a series of illness that includes viral meningitis.

It was a nervous start for both women as they both struggled to hold onto their serves but it was Kuznetsova that settled the quickest taking the first set 6-4.

Into the second and the Russian opened up a slender 5-4 lead at towards the back end of the set but was pegged back to 5-5 before going to a tie break.

Kuznetsova streaked ahead in the tie break opening up a 5-2 lead and looked certain to wrap the match up.

However Stosur dug in and battled back in spectacular fashion to take the second set.

But the Australian couldn't keep up the momentum as she squandered a break point that would have given her a 3-2 lead. The Russian went on a run of three successive games which sealed the victory.

This is Kuznetsova's second French Open final losing out to Justine Henin Hardenne in 2005.