Tatiana Golovin beat Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-1 on Sunday for her first WTA Tour singles title at the Bausch & Lomb Championships at the Amelia Island Plantation.
Golovin was appearing in her fourth championship but had been runner-up in each of the three previous finals. This time, there was no denying the French teenager.
Golovin answered nearly all of the top-seeded Petrova's booming serves and most of her blistering groundstrokes. But her best tactic was to wait until the defending champion made one of her 27 unforced errors.
PHOTO: AP
"I forced myself to be aggressive and stay aggressive and use my forehand," Golovin said. "That kind of put pressure on her. She probably felt she needed to go for the big shots and that's where her mistakes came from."
Petrova was seeking her first successful title defense.
She rolled through her first four matches in the tournament without losing a set and declared the green clay at Amelia Island among her favorite surfaces to play on.
But she was broken in her first two serves and again in her fourth serve. All four points she lost in the latter break came on unforced errors.
"The experience of beating Venus [Williams] and Ana [Ivanovic] this week, especially Ivanovic since I had never beaten her in the past, it gives you confidence," Golovin said. "Today I knew that I could beat Petrova. I knew I had the weapons to do so."
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