Former women’s tennis world number two player Svetlana Kuznetsova has hired a new coach ahead of the upcoming calendar season of 2012 in an attempt to crack the top ten of the world ranking once again. The Russian, who has been a Grand Slam winner on two occasions has not been having the best of times on the court over the last few seasons and almost fell off the radar after becoming one of the top tennis players in the world in the middle of the decade.
Olga Morozova, who has been the coach of another Russian tennis player Elena Dementieva as well as some British juniors, has been hired by the Russian to take her back to glory. Morozova had coached Kuznetsova for a brief spell during the 2008 season but it was not confirmed either by the player or the coach’s representatives whether the team will work together permanently or this is only a temporary solution. Svetlana Kuznetsova reached a career high world number two position in September 2007 after winning the 2004 US Open title and followed it up with success in the French Open in 2009.
But since then, Kuznetsova was nowhere near the top 10 and was overshadowed by the emergence of young players like Carolina Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitova. She is currently ranked outside the top 20 in the WTA ratings, sitting in the 21st position as she is gearing up for the first Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open.
The last couple of years has seen her change coaches plenty of times, experimenting with a new coach but this time, she has gone back and hired someone she has worked with before and Svetlana Kuznetsova is hoping that this new partnership can get her back to the top 10 by the end of the season.