Kuznetsova not scared of Serena

06-03-2009 | AFP

The Russian player often texts Williams, who she claims has a great personality

Panama Star PARIS. Russian seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova says she won't be intimidated by American world number two Serena Williams when the two go head-to-head for a place in the French Open semi-finals on Wednesday.

Williams has a 5-1 career record against the 23-year-old Russian, but Kuznetsova, a runner-up at Roland Garros in 2006, said the pair were too close for there to be any thoughts of fear in her mind.

"I respect her a lot," said Kuznetsova, who picked up her first career title in two years on the Stuttgart clay in April. "Every player dreams about achieving what she's done in tennis.

"Outside of the courts, she has a great personality. We text on BlackBerry.

"Maybe before, when I first came onto the tour, her and her sister Venus were kind of intimidating.

"But now, the players in the top five, top 10 don't intimidate each other, because we face each other every week.

"I maybe don't have a great record against Serena, but I really enjoy playing her. It's always fun," she said.