The prestigious year-ending WTA Finals are currently underway in Singapore, with the top 8 players in women’s tennis fighting it out for the title. Svetlana Kuznetsova only recently filled the eighth and final spot in the group after her title win at the Kremlin Cup, and was up against defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska in the pair’s round robin match yesterday.
Kuznetsova, who had not had a chance for a break following the Kremlin Cup, starting practice and play in Singapore only 24 hours later, was down 1-4 against the Polish ace in the first set but took consecutive breaks to completely outclass the World No. 3; Radwanska would go on to lose the first set 5-7 a as a result.
After scraping back to take the second set, Radwanska appeared to be experiencing a resurgence, managing to go to match point in the third when Kuznetsova turned up the attack.
The Russian had been trailing 1-2 before taking a 7-5 win in the third set; she had complained of exhaustion earlier, and called for a break in the match – and requested a pair of scissors.
Sitting on the sidelines, Kuznetsova grabbed the scissors and hacked furiously at her own thick plait, wincing as she chopped off a chunk of her own hair. That appeared to help her significantly considering the magnitude of a comeback she staged to take victory here.
Kuznetsova later explained the hair had been bothering her by getting in her eyes;
“Every time I would hit a good shot, it would hit my eye every time and I struggle,” she said in the post-match press conference.
Kuznetsova posted to her Instagram account later, saying “Sometimes you gotta do it not by best hairdressers and not at best time.”
Daria Gavrilova, the Russian’s opponent in the Kremlin Cup final, reacted to the video footage with a joke, saying “If you want to break back, just give yourself a haircut!”
The top two players in each group with the most points from the round robin stage will progress to the semi-finals.
