Experience counts
PARIS - She'd come so far, so fast, reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal at 17, that perhaps Nicole Vaidisova just wasn't quite ready to win it.
Closing in on a third consecutive upset at Roland Garros, Vaidisova served for the match against 2004 U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, and later was two points from victory. Each time, the Czech teen's composure cracked, allowing Kuznetsova to come back to win 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-2 Thursday and reach the French Open final.
Kuznetsova's opponent Saturday will be defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne, whose 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 2-seeded Kim Clijsters lacked any of the drama and wild momentum swings of the day's first semifinal.
"I never come to a Grand Slam thinking I'm going to win it, or if I have chances to win it. I just come there, and I play every match. Every match I can, I just do my best," said Kuznetsova, 1-10 against Henin-Hardenne. "You have to think step by step."
It would be tough to blame Vaidisova for thinking ahead when it was her turn to serve while leading 5-4 in the second set. A little more than 1 hours in, and all she needed was four points - four measly points! - to put it away.
"You kind of figure, 'If I win this game, I'm in the finals,"' Vaidisova acknowledged. "But I don't think I (was) crazy nervous or started shaking or anything. I really didn't."
After losing the first point, she smacked a forehand that landed near the baseline and was ruled good by the line judge. Vaidisova pumped her fist and prepared to serve at what she thought would be 15-all - now three points away.
But the chair umpire overruled, calling the shot out and making the score love-30. When Vaidisova heard that, she slapped her palm to her mouth and staggered back. Two points later, she sailed another forehand long, then double-faulted to get broken, making it 5-5. On the first point of the next game, Vaidisova blew a return and swatted at the ground with her racket.
The unraveling had begun, and Vaidisova soon was muttering to herself after every point. Still, when Kuznetsova sent a return wide in the tiebreaker, it was 5-5, meaning Vaidisova was two points shy of the final.
Next came an 11-stroke point, and Kuznetsova - a comparative veteran at 20 - tried a drop shot she later acknowledged wasn't all that good. But Vaidisova rushed a forehand, pushing it wide, and never recovered.
Her backhand error on the next point ceded the set, and Kuznetsova raced to a 4-0 lead in the third. Kuznetsova made only one unforced error in the third set.
"Would I want to go back and redo it? Yes, but I can't," said the 16th-seeded Vaidisova, who knocked off former No. 1 Venus Williams in the quarterfinals and current No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo in the fourth round.
"I just have to take my experience from this and, you know, figure it out next time."
Women's semifinals: No. 5 Justine Henin-Hardenne beat No. 2 Kim Clijsters; No. 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova beat No. 16 Nicole Vaidisova. On court today: No. 1 Roger Federer vs. No. 3 David Nalbandian, and No. 2 Rafael Nadal vs. No. 4 Ivan Ljubicic in the men’s semifinals. Stat of the day: 1 — Unforced errors for Kuznetsova in the third set of her 5-7, 7-5 (5), 6-2 victory over Vaidisova.