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| 10 Jun 2001 | |
| Champions from Contrasting Countries at Roland Garros |
By Chris Bowers
The little Baltic state of Estonia celebrated a small piece of sporting history when Kaia Kanepi became the first Estonian to win a Grand Slam title when she collected the girls’ singles title at Roland Garros.
Celebrating her 16th birthday, the fourth seed from the tiny state that shares borders with Finland, Russia and Latvia dropped her only set of the tournament but still came through to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-3 1-6 6-2. The win will take her to the top of the ITF girls’ world rankings, despite her having played very few junior tournaments.
"I’ve been at school," Kanepi said when asked why she has played so little since the Orange Bowl. "I finished the ninth class, then I went to practise." She won in Milan the week before Paris, and thanks to her massive forehand that tore holes through her opponents, she has now won a Grand Slam junior title. Yet she does not have the year-ending world No 1 ranking as her goal, and she will return to school in September after playing the US Open.
In the final Kanepi seemed well in control after the first set, but then Kuznetsova decided to throw caution to the wind – and there was a lot of wind – and go for quick winners. The strategy worked, and it took until the start of the third set for Kanepi to work out a way of countering the threat. Kanepi slowed the pace down, and in the fifth game of the final set she converted her second break point and was never behind after that, sealing her victory in an hour and 20 minutes.
Her plans now are to play at home when she will be guaranteed a terrific welcome at a $75,000 tournament in the Estonian capital Tallinn, and she then goes to Roehampton and Wimbledon. "I don’t know how I’m playing at Wimbledon," she said, "because it’s my first time on grass. But it’s good experience."
Like Kanepi, the boys’ singles champion Carlos Cuadrado has also tried to keep up with his schooling, but he missed his final exams on Friday because he was in the Roland Garros semi-finals, and will now concentrate on touring.
The difference between tennis for a Spaniard and an Estonian is massive. In Spain the climate and tennis infrastructure allow a player to play most of the year on the circuit without having to travel outside their own country, which explains why Cuadrado has played so little on the junior circuit and will concentrate after his Paris success on playing Satellite and Challenger events.
His final against the Argentine left-hander Brian Dabul was disappointing. The 6-1 6-0 scoreline is a little unfair on Dabul, and the match did last 51 minutes, but the Argentine was well below his best. "The score was easy but the match was tough," said Cuadrado of his first match against Dabul. "I’m surprised to have won. I didn’t come here to win the event, just to play. Now my ambition is to one day win Roland Garros."
In the girls’ doubles, Petra Cetkovska remains on course to do the Grand Slam. She and her fellow-Czech Renata Voracova won a three-set final against the Haitian Neyssa Etienne and the German Annette Kolb 6-3 3-6 6-3.
Cetkovska won the Australian title with Barbora Strycova, who played the French with Eva Birnerova, the two losing to Etienne and Kolb in the semi-finals.
Click here to view the 2001 Roland Garros picture gallery.
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