Russian girls French Open 2009

Current world women's number one Dinara Safina was on the verge of winning her first Grand Slam title at the 2009 French Open. Unfortunately she was denied that prize by her Russian compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova who beat Dinara 6-4 6-2 to win her own second Grand Slam. The pressure of a big game again got to Dinara, who lost the Australian Open final early this year to Venus Williams, as she had seven double faults in the game including on match point. "She plays with too much pressure on her," Kuznetsova (extreme left) said during the prize giving ceremony. "But she's an amazing athlete and she will make it here one day."



The two Russian girls had played each other as teenagers, Dinara winning most occasions, and as tennis professionals Safina had an edge of eight wins to five for Kuzentsova. But now Svetlana has two Grand Slam titles while only ranked number seven. Her big moment, apart from winning the title, was meeting her childhood hero Steffi Graf (second from right) and receiving the French Open trophy from her.

Meanwhile Elena Bogdan and Noppawan Lertcheewakarn won the women's doubles titles beating Heather Watson and Timea Babos 3-6 6-3 10-8. In the men's doubles India's Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic beat Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Belgium's Dick Norman 3-6 6-3 6-2. This is 35-year-old Leander's fifth Grand Slam title and his second win at the French Open. In the men's final today Roger Federer seeks to complete a career Grand Slam against 23rd-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden.