Kuznetsova Fights Off Koukalova’s Challenge

Second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia fought off a strong challenge by Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic, as she advanced to the third round of the Acura Classic with a 7-5, 6-3 victory.

Before a capacity crowd of 6,500 on Stadium Court, Kuznetsova did not play her best and had trouble finding her rhythm. Nevertheless, she still had enough to get past Koukalova.

Kuznetsova, the reigning US Open champion, played defensive tennis for most of the match and struggled to hold serve in the opening game, which lasted 14 points.

After exchanging service breaks in the next two games, each player held serve until the 12th game of the set.

Koukalova served to stay in the set at 5-6 but fell behind 40-15 giving Kuznetsova two set points. The Russian then won the first set as Koukalova double faulted.

Despite losing her serve twice in the second set, Kuznetsova took a 4-3 lead. She increased her lead to 5-3 when Koukalova committed her fifth double fault of the match.

Kuznetsova served for the match and on her first match point, Koukalova punched a forehand past the baseline.

“It was tough. Something was just wrong,” Kuznetsova said. “I was just missing so much. I still was fighting.”

• Kuznetsova will face the winner of the Ai Sugiyama / Daniela Hantuchova in the third round.
• Kuznetsova is ranked fourth in the world.
• Kuznetsova is playing in her third Acura Classic. She reached the semifinals here in 2003.
• Kuznetsova improves her 2005 match record to 26-11.
• This was the first meeting between Kuznetsova and Koukalova.
• Koukalova is ranked 33 in the world.
• Koukalova’s 2005 match record is now 23-14.
• Koukalova was making her Acura Classic debut.

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