Two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova got into trouble in 2019. Kuznetsova did not receive a visa to the United States, although she submitted documents in advance to obtain one.
A diplomatic scandal arose, which was quickly resolved. However, Kuznetsova still missed the Citi Open tournament in Washington, of which she was the reigning champion. Her absence from the American capital seriously affected Svetlana’s positions in the WTA rankings and put her future career prospects in doubt, but in the end it all ended quite well for the athlete.
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Kuznetsova did not get a visa for a long time, although she submitted documents in advance
In February 2019, Kuznetsova in Moscow applied for a US visa. Then the tennis player was recovering from an injury. She had no intention of participating in the March “Masters” in Indian Wells and Miami and made a visa with her sights set on a series of tournaments in the US in July and August.
Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2019
Photo: Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Standard bureaucratic procedure suddenly became a concern for Kuznetsova. On July 2, Kuznetsova was eliminated in the first round at Wimbledon and she declared that she had not been granted a visa, four months after presenting all the necessary documents.
“Next, I would like to play tournaments in Washington, Cincinnati and Montreal. But here is a small question: I do not have a visa. If they let me, I’ll go play, if they don’t let me, I’ll stay at home and wait for my matches, ”Kuznetsova said.
The Citi Open in Washington began on July 29. There were about four weeks left to solve all the problems with Kuznetsova’s visa. But time passed and no progress was observed. Two weeks before the Citi Open, the head of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpishchev, contacted the ITF and the organization’s president, David Haggerty, to solve the problem.
“We made a request from the international federation, from Haggerty, they have everything. I don’t see any reason not to get a visa. We had no precedents to be stopped. This is a strange situation for tennis,” Tarpishchev said.
It’s been another week and a half. Again, no progress. On July 25, Kuznetsova announced on social media that she would not be going to Washington. An insulting situation for a tennis player, especially considering that she was the reigning Citi Open champion.
“Friends, the situation with the American visa is forcing me to withdraw from the tournament in Washington. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go there and try to defend the title. This situation has developed in a race (which is not short) for the first time, I really hope its prompt resolution! wrote Kuznetsova.
Svetlana Kuznetsova won the title in Washington in 2018
Photo: From the personal archive of Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The Russian embassy in the United States quickly responded to the situation with Kuznetsova: “The famous Russian tennis player Svetlana Kuznetsova, who was going to participate in the Citi Open tournament starting this weekend in Washington, became another victim of the ” protracted administrative procedures. ” when obtaining an American visa. We are outraged by the continued practice of preventing our athletes from participating in major competitions that take place on American soil. We send a protest note to the State Department and demand an end to the discriminatory policy regarding the issuance of visas to Russian participants in international events.”
Then Svetlana herself told in a little more detail why there were problems with the documents.
“So far, there has been no progress in the case. But after my last post, a flurry of calls began with questions and reactions. I can’t answer anything. The situation is not easy. In fact, I have been in a state of constant stress for three months. The consulate kept my passport for six months, then returned it to me, and now they are asking me to return it. What will come of it? So far it is difficult to understand. However, the tournament in Washington will now definitely take place without me. I am waiting for a Canadian visa, but it must be granted within five days. I will return the passport, I will wait. Unfortunately, so far no one can do anything. Fortunately, I have two international passports. One is completely stuffed with visas, the last page left for Canada only. The second is new, clean, waiting for the US stamp. I submitted the documents in February, so already in May it became clear that something was wrong. Many write to me that it was necessary to act differently and apply for a visa in Europe, but I had seven months left. I couldn’t even think that they would refuse. There is no good reason for this.
According to unofficial information, the American security service retained my passport. Apparently, it aroused some suspicion in them. Mine and another person whose last name means nothing to me. True, it’s not clear how suspicious I can be if I’ve been flying to tournaments in the US for 16 years. At the same time, I do not rest there, but am exclusively at work. They say it’s politics, but why should I sacrifice my job? I want to play tennis! I had many passes, no qualification… But they won’t let me go to the tournament. this is weird. As far as I know, the International Tennis Federation refused to help solve the problem. As for the American, since I am the winner of the US Open, they sent the necessary request, but received the exact same response as me. I already tagged US President Donald Trump in my post, but of course I won’t be writing any official letters. I understand that I am not a person of magnitude to address him directly with requests,” Kuznetsova said.
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Late in the afternoon of July 26, the US Embassy in Moscow finally provided comments: “We saw media reports about tennis player Svetlana Kuznetsova and her problems obtaining a US visa. We tried to contact her. directly to let him know that his visa was ready, but no one answered us. Svetlana, if you are reading this text, contact us, your visa is waiting for you!”
An extremely strange situation in which one unpleasant fact remained unchanged behind all diplomatic formulations: Kuznetsova lost a lot of time and suffered due to the cynical delays of the bureaucrats. She missed the tournament in Washington. According to the results of the Citi Open, Kuznetsova lost 280 points and finished in the bottom of the top 200 in the WTA rankings, falling from 108th to 196th place. Kuznetsova, 34, lived far from the best period of her career in 2019. , but still such a fall was very painful for an eminent and ambitious tennis player. But the situation could have been even worse if the visa issue had not been resolved before the Masters in Canada and Cincinnati. Fortunately, this did not happen.
Kuznetsova performed well in Toronto and Cincinnati after receiving a visa
On July 31, Kuznetsova announced that she had received American and Canadian visas the day before.
“Friends, I would like to thank everyone for their support. Many people responded about my visa situation. I finally got it! That was yesterday. And I was lucky that on the same day I received a Canadian visa. So I’m on my first flight to Canada today. There is not enough time for acclimatization and training in America, as I would like, but we are already making progress, there are some advances, ”Kuznetsova said.
Svetlana Kuznetsova at the Toronto Masters in 2019
Photo: Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images
This was not the only good news for the tennis player. At the Toronto Masters, Kuznetsova, as a former TBS champion, was awarded a top-20 wild card, which was released after Venus Williams made it straight into the main draw.
Svetlana performed more than well in Canada, given the crumpled training schedule. Kuznetsova defeated Chinese Xiyu Wang and Croatian Donna Vekic, after which she lost to Romanian Simona Halep. The 34-year-old Russian reached 1/8 of the Masters tournament for the first time since Cincinnati 2017, when she was still in the top 10 of the WTA rankings.
At the Cincinnati Masters in 2019, Kuznetsova presented an absolute super sensation. Svetlana reached the final (42nd in her career with 18 titles and the most after Indian Wells 2017), where she lost to the American Madison Keys (5: 7, 6: 7). Kuznetsova stopped a step away from the trophy, lost to her rival in the fight. However, Svetlana could be proud of her performance in Cincinnati. En route to the final, she beat top 10 rivals Sloane Stevens (10), Karolina Pliskova (3) and Ashleigh Barty (2) three times in a row. Prior to this, the two-time Slams champion had never defeated three top ten representatives in the same tournament in her career, and even at least one of them since that same Indian Wells 2017, where she lost to her compatriot Elena Vesnina in the final. longest final in tournament history.
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Kuznetsova rather wryly answered the question of what helped her beat her main rivals in Cincinnati.
“Probably the fact that I received an American visa,” Kuznetsova said.
At the same time, Svetlana not only joked, but also seriously talked about the objective difficulties due to the delay in obtaining a visa.
“In order to fly here, I waited for a visa for three weeks and practiced at home according to the coach’s schedule. This is a new experience for me. You have to grow up and take responsibility. Other players and maybe I would give anything to have someone go through this for them. However, I think tennis makes me better by giving me that experience. And it’s not just about the result, but also about my feelings and responsibility on the court. I changed coaches, struggled with injuries and a lot of problems. If I hadn’t come to the US, I would have taken off from the top 200. I wouldn’t play until the end of the season, because there’s no point in just going to China. Maybe I should have put my career on hold. A lot got out of hand. However, I am now where I am. Very happy to play and train.
I was sitting in Moscow and could not find a training partner. There were three days left, and he was not sure whether he would get a visa to Canada. Mikhail Youzhny called and offered to play together. He came and trained with me for two days. This helped me a lot. My goal is to win games to have fun. And if I like tennis, then winning is not even the main thing. Everything is very simple. How do I rate my chances at the US Open? You need to get lucky with the grid. Last year Venus Williams was at the US Open and Garbiñe Muguruza at Roland Garros. A lucky grid would help a bit, but I’m up for anything. I play well and I am very happy about it. He should play in the Bronx. I am happy and I want to improve the game, because I see what needs to be improved,” Kuznetsova said.
Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to Madison Keys in the Cincinnati 2019 final
Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Svetlana moved up the rankings to 62nd thanks to Cincinnati reaching the final. The Russian woman appears to have gained excellent form, but she was unable to follow up on her surprise run at the US Open. In the first round, Kuznetsova lost to 27-year-old American Christy Ahn 5:7, 2:6. Svetlana was never able to win her first match at TBSH since 2017 – she flew out six times in the first round and missed the Australian Open twice. Although the opponent looked quite passable. For the first time in her career, An won the main draw at the Slam. She played at this level for the fourth time in her career and performed at the US Open for the first time since 2008 (she then lost to Russia’s Dinara Safina).
Be that as it may, for Kuznetsova, in the end, there were more positives than negatives. The final in Cincinnati and the third round in Toronto are a solid result that allowed them to return to the top 100 of the ranking. Svetlana did not stop her career, although this scenario, as she said, was really real if it was impossible to come to a series of tournaments in the USA. She broke her unbeaten streak in TBSH already at the Australian Open – 2020, defeating the Czech Marketa Vondrousova, seeded fifteenth, in the first round (however, in the next stage, she lost to Italian Camila Giorgi). Kuznetsova did not enter the court after being knocked out in the first round of Wimbledon 2021, after which she took a career break from hers due to permanent injuries.
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Officially, the Russian woman did not complete her performance at the professional level. The 38-year-old admits that she can still get back in the game if she gets fit. Although the probability of such a development of events remains minimal. Svetlana is getting used to social life, she is preparing to launch her fashion line in collaboration with the Bosco brand, she is engaged in acting and is preparing to shoot in the series (the tennis player has not yet named the project).
In any case, Kuznetsova successfully performed on the WTA tour for more than 20 years (2000-2021), won 18 titles, the main of which are the US Open – 2004 and Roland Garros – 2009. Her career is fine. It could have ended in the summer of 2019, if the problem with the visa to the United States was still not resolved positively. Fortunately, Svetlana only missed the tournament in Washington, played in Toronto, Cincinnati and the US Open and subsequently enjoyed playing tennis at a high level for about two more years.
