Anastasia Myskina finally seems to have put her past behind her. Winning a WTA Tour singles title after 11 months came as a huge relief for the player who, since becoming the first Russian woman to win a Grand Slam when she became the 2004 French Open champion, suddenly found herself embroiled in an embarrassing controversy that threatened to put her tennis career on hold.The hugely talented and highly photogenic Russian had come into the Sunfeast Open as the overwhelming favourite, notwithstanding the presence of the fast-rising Sania Mirza and veteran Elena Likhovtseva. But, the shadow of her lost court battle against GQ magazine for allowing it to sell topless photos of her to Russian magazine Medved, which published them soon after she won at Roland Garros, still seemed to hang over her as she lost both matches in Russia’s 3-2 Fed Cup final win over France in Paris.Myskina, though, wasn’t going to let that affect her for long. She chose to take part in a fashion show in the city, setting the ramp alight, just as she would do on the courts that week. Ranked 12 in the world going into the Tier III event, the Russian hardly looked like she had just come of a long flight from Paris, decimating her first-round opponent Edina Gallovits, before giving young Russian Galina Voskoboeva a punishing tennis lesson.No one has ever doubted the Russian’s ability, but the way she toyed with her opponents in every match suggested that she was close to her best form. Local favourite Shikha Uberoi — installed so after Sania’s unexpected early exit — was her quarter-final victim, a match that provided an insight as to why Myskina was head and shoulders above the rest of the field here.Shikha played the best she could, showing aggression that would have unnerved a lesser mortal, but the Russian is one of the coolest customers on court and she simply let the Indian rave and rant before clinically cutting her down to size.Myskina’s popularity here grew as fast as she was finishing her matches, as she visited a local school to spend time with kids, before returning to the courts and letting her opponents into her weaknesses.“I have to improve my serve and my forehand,” she said. Her semi-final opponent, the Estonian Kaia Kanepi and her final opponent Karolina Sprem tried to exploit the gray areas, but Myskina was obviously being relative in her references as she mowed them down as well.The Russian has always stood out among her contemporaries, not only because of her striking looks, but also because of her frail figure. However, she more than makes up for that with beautifully timed groundstrokes and effortless movement on court. No wonder then that she has managed to match up to the muscular power-hitters of the present generation with rare grace and elegance.
