Kuznetsova wins all-Russian final

NEW YORK -- By all rights, Svetlana Kuznetsova should have been a cycling star: Her brother and parents all won or coached others to Olympic medals and world titles in that sport. Kuznetsova gave it a shot, hated it and moved on to tennis.

What a brilliant career move. Still just 19, with braces on her teeth, she's the U.S. Open champion, the third straight Russian woman to win a major.

Pounding ferocious forehands and covering the baseline with the muscular legs of a Tour de France rider, Kuznetsova overwhelmed Elena Dementieva 6-3, 7-5 Saturday night in the American Grand Slam's first all-Russian final.

"When I played the first game, I was, 'Wow, there are so many people out here.' I was nervous," said Kuznetsova, never past the quarterfinals at a major before. "This morning, I was nervous. I was stiff. But something inside of me was telling me I would be fine."

As of four months ago, no Russian woman ever won a major, but Anastasia Myskina beat Dementieva in the French Open final, and Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon. Russians occupy half of the top 10 spots in the rankings.

"Russia is just a powerful country," said Kuznetsova, the youngest Open champion since Serena Williams was 17 in 1999. "There's competition between us."

Until now, Kuznetsova probably was the least-known of her country's crop of rising stars, instead most famous for being Martina Navratilova's former doubles partner. They won five titles as a pair and were the runners-up at the 2003 Open.

Federer, Hewitt reach final

The men's final Sunday has two more recognizable players: top-ranked Roger Federer against 2001 Open champion Lleyton Hewitt. Federer, bidding to become the first man since 1988 to win three majors in a year, beat No. 5 Tim Henman 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, while No. 4 Hewitt eliminated No. 28 Joachim Johansson 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 Saturday afternoon.

Saturday evening began on a somber note, with 20,524 spectators joining in a moment of silence to remember victims of Sept. 11, 2001, and the recent terrorist attack at a school in Russia. Kuznetsova and Dementieva both wore black ribbons in memory of the hundreds of Russian victims, and they walked out from the locker room wearing blue baseball caps with "FDNY" and "NYPD" to honor New York's police and fire workers.

The American flag atop the stadium was at half-staff, and a 50-foot flag was unfurled on court before the match. Dementieva asked the crowd to observe another moment of silence after the match.