It says a lot about how much I like and respect The Kuz that seeing her not choke and eventually raise that trophy almost completely mitigates my absolute depression that Dina had to be the one to lose. Obviously the story will be about Dina and how crushing this loss was. More on that later.
But suffice it to say that Sveta deserved this. She put pressure on Dina from the first point and signaled that she was there to play. She yanked her all over the place and as the pressure of the moment mounted it was Sveta who remained calm and Dina who choked. God that hurts to write.
But I want to make sure that we all spend some time tipping our cap to the oft-forgotten Russian. She really has had to battle back from mental demons to get here. As much shit as I feel like Ana's had to endure over the past year for being a head casey one Slam wonder who has the talent but can't seem to get out of her own way, Kuz has been dealing with it for five years now, and her headcasey failures seem to have been even more high profile (at least to us tennis fans).
This one just felt sweet. It felt right. Even if it was at the expense of Dina.
So congrats to Sveta, 2009 Roland Garros Champion. May the sound of the hip hop you blare while nakedly running down the Champs Elysees be the rhythmic signal to all of your deserved return to the upper echelons of the WTA. I wonder if they'll let her drink a 2-Liter of Pepsi out of that thing.
