Nadia Petrova defeated Patty Schnyder 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 to win the Family Circle Cup on Sunday for her second straight tournament victory.
It was the fourth title in six months for Petrova, who also won last week at Amelia Island, Florida. Her first tournament crown came in October at Linz, Austria, where she also defeated Schnyder. Petrova also won last month at Doha, Qatar.
By making the final at the Family Circle, Petrova will improve two spots to her highest ranking at No. 5 on the WTA Tour. The Russian's previous high was No. 6 last year.
PHOTO: AFP
Schnyder, ranked ninth, was making her 10th straight appearance at the Family Circle Cup.
The 27-year-old from Switzerland was also the runner-up four years ago when she lost to Iva Majoli.
Schnyder is 5-4 in matches against Petrova since 2000 but Petrova has now won three of their last four meetings.
On Saturday, Schnyder handed Justine Henin-Hardenne her first loss at the Family Circle Cup. Before Schnyder's 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory in the semifinals, Henin-Hardenne had won 14 straight matches.
US Clay Court
American Mardy Fish captured the US Men's Clay Court Championships after beating Austrian Juergen Melzer 3-6 6-4 6-3 in a battle of unseeded players.
The 212th-ranked Fish lost the first set and was down in the second before he broke Melzer's serve to begin a comeback that ended with his victory on the red clay courts at Houston's Westside Tennis Club.
"This has been an incredible week for me. I definitely didn't expect to be standing here in front of this trophy," said Fish, who collapsed on to the clay, lying on his back and raising his arms, when Melzer hit a backhand into the net to give him the match.
It was Fish's second title on the ATP circuit after Stockholm in 2003 and comes after missing much of last year due to a wrist injury that required two operations.
Even though he trailed midway through the match, Fish said he felt he was playing well enough to win, but had to become more aggressive.
"I just had to take advantage of the opportunities I had and play aggressive on the break points and the big points," said the 2004 Olympic silver medal winner.
"After that break in the second set I really started serving well and put a lot of pressure on him to hold serve," Fish said. "I just felt like the momentum was changing a little bit."
Fish virtually waltzed into Sunday's final when his second round opponent, German Rainer Schuettler, could not play because of stomach problems and his semi-final opponent, fifth-seed Tommy Haas of Germany, had to quit because of a wrist injury just six games into their match on Saturday.
Haas had earlier knocked out top-seed Andy Roddick in the quarter-finals.
Two years ago, Fish was the 17th ranked player in the world and he said on Sunday his goal is to get back into the top 100 before Wimbledon begins in late June.
An ATP spokesman said Sunday's win was likely to move him up to about 120th in the rankings.
Valencia Open
Qualifier Nicolas Almagro won his first ATP title, beating Gilles Simon of France 6-3, 6-2.
The 20-year-old Spaniard, ranked 77th, easily won the first set and then broke his opponent again in the first game of the second set at Valencia Tennis Club.
Earlier in the tournament, Almagro beat Marat Safin and Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Simon, ranked 86th and playing in his first ATP final, has played only 26 matches on the tour, going 14-12.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set