Safina had played in super form, surging to a 20-1 record before the final on clay and losing only one set in the previous six rounds of the tournament. While the showdown was expected to be a close one, she was paralyzed with nerves and played like a shadow of her usual self throughout 75 minutes. Despite the fact that Kuznetsova was the only woman who beat Safina this year even before the final, history took Safina's side as she had won five of their last six meetings.

Kuznetsova broke at 3-3 in the first set before pulling off to a 5-3 lead. Safina roared right back to break to love. But any hope that this would give her the necessary confidence was short-lived as her opponent immediately broke again to take the set.

Former tennis player Steffi Graf (R) kisses Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia after she won her women's final at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris June 6, 2009.

It soon became clear that Safina was struggling with the same lack of confidence that had blighted her first Grand Slam final appearance this year, in which she surrendered to Serena Williams in Australia five months ago without any real competition, as she continued to self-destruct in the second half. "I was a little bit desperate on the court, and didn't do the things that I had to do. Didn't stay tough mentally," Safina said.

"I put pressure on myself because I really wanted to win. I just didn't handle it," she added

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