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Monday 23 September 2013

Kuznetsova to battle Cristea for Quarter-finals spot in Tokyo - 2013

Svetlana Kuznetsova seems to have put the disappointing U.S Open loss behind her, as she impressed in her straight sets win over world no.6 Sara Errani, the final score of the match being 6-4 6-4. Kuznetsova led the head to head 5-1, when she entered the match, with Errani's only win coming over Kuznetsova in the 4th round of Roland Garros last year, when Errani made her first Grand Slam final.

Kuznetsova blasted 7 aces enroute to victory and will face Sorana Cristea, who defeated home player Misaki Doi at the loss of just 3 games. Kuznetsova has played Tokyo just once before in her career, back in 2002 when it had a 32 player draw. Kuznetsova lost in the second round at the hands of Alicia Molick.

Kuznetsova, two time former Grand Slam champion, should be poised to make a strong run through the fall season, after a disappointing summer, which saw her withdrawing from Wimbledon, a first round loss in Carlsbad, two loses (one in qualifying and one in first round as a lucky loser) at the hands of same player, Lauren Davis, in Toronto, a first round loss in Cincinnati and a third round loss at U.S Open.

Kuznetsova's opponent in the third round for a place in the quarter-finals will be Sorana Cristea, who made huge news when she made the final of Toronto, but failed to capitalise on that momentum in the U.S Open and fell in the second round at the hands of Kurumi Nara in straight sets.

Cristea seems to have found her game again as she blasted her way into the third round with a 6-1 6-2 victory over Misaki Doi.

Kuznetsova leads the head to head 3-0 against Cristea, however, the two have not played since their Roland Garros encounter in 2008, won by Kuznetsova 6-3 6-1.

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