Kaia wins first title for Estonia, Agnes wins 2nd title in a row, Spanish men win Stuttgart and Bastad
19 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in Bastad, ECM Prague Open (WTA), Mercedes Cup. Stuttgart, Palermo WTA, Round Up
Kaia Kanepi has become the first player from Estonia ever to win a WTA title!! She defeated local hero Flavia Pennetta in the Palermo Final, recording a straight sets win!!
She has improved dramatically this year reaching Grand Slam quarter-finals at Wimbledon. It’s a great tribute to her that she was able to readjust to clay so quickly. She played a great match, always in control, winning 6-4 6-3.
Agnes Szavay of Hungary won her 2nd singles title in as many weeks, winning the final WTA Prague Open(next year it will be a combined ATP/ITF(International Tennis Federation) Challenger for men and women.
Local heros qualified for 2 finals on WTA circuit, but sadly Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova faired no better in front of partisan crowd in Prague, though she valiantly forced the final to 3 sets after a poor start. The weather had been blazing hot for the vast majority of the week, conditions were more comfortable for the players come finals day. Barbora made a nervous start, dropping serve at the beginning of the match. Barbora is an interesting player to watch, she has versatility in her game, she uses angles, drop shots and breaks up rallies with competent volleying. She also is never afraid to vent her feelings, always reacting facially, and often screams, shouts in a stream of Czech, and sometimes will take her frustration out on her racquet!!!
Agnes is a much calmer personality, preferring to laugh off mishaps. It showed in key points in the deciding set of their match. Barbora should have been in the ascendancy going into the 3rd set, having fought back so well, but her fragile temperament let her down, along with an ill chosen drop shot at the beginning of the decider!! Although she continued to display fighting qualities, her opponent became more consistent, finding the mark with accurate passing shots and staying cool in rallies. She overcame fatigue in the final stages to clinch the title 6-2 1-6 6-2. Zahlavova-Strycova was appearing in her first WTA Tour final, she can be proud of playing so well in her home country.
WTA rankings show Palermo winner Kanepi rising to 38, finalist Pennetta falls one place to 13. Agnes Szavay champion in Prague climbs to 38, runner-up Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova finds herself immediately behind Szavay at 39!!
The local heroes didn’t fare well on the mens tour either. Robin Soderling was expected to retain his Bastad Open crown against Spaniard Nicolas Almagro. In front of a capacity crowd Soderling started slowly once again and dropped a tight first set 7-5. The fact that he had struggled for consistency all week wasn’t helping him in the title match. However, he bounced back to the delight of the sun-baked crowd in Bastad to level the match, taking the 2nd set 6-3, but the hopes of completing a come back with another crown were to be dashed. Almagro broke Soderling’s serve two successive times, to clinch the 3rd set 6-2, a 6th title of Almagro’s career, and his 1st in 2010.
In Stuttgart the final was a curtailed affair, due to an injury late in the 1st set to Gael Monfils, he turned his right ankle. Consequently Albert Montanes only had to play just over a set to win the title. Gael tried to continue after having strapping put on the injury, but he couldn’t use his usual athletic mobility and against such a retriever as the Spaniard, it was going to be too difficult to prolong the match.
ATP Rankings released today(Monday) reveal Nicolas Almagro, Bastad winner at 18th, Soderling remains in the top 4 at 5. Stuttgart winner Albert Montanes climbs to a new career high of 24. Finalist Gael Monfils remains 17th.
This week the tour moves onto Atlanta (the first US Open summer Series for the men – Andy Roddick is a wild-card entry and is top seed, Hamburg (sadly downgraded from a Masters Series to an International Series ’500′ event this year), has Russian Nikolay Davydenko and Spaniard David Ferrer as its leading seeds, WTA events continue on clay in Europe – in Potoroz, Slovenia, where Jelena Jankovic is top seed, and also in Bad Gastein in Austria, Andrea Petkovic of Germany defends her title.
