Serena Williams won her first clay court crown since 2002 and stretched her win streak to 15 matches by taking the US$1.3 million WTA Family Circle Cup final on Sunday.
Fifth-seeded Williams fired nine aces to defeat Russia’s Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and win her third consecutive tournament crown, a victory that will lift her from ninth to sixth in the WTA rankings.
“I’m feeling really good,” Williams said. “I’m not even reaching my peak yet. I feel like I can do so much better.”
Following crowns earlier this year at Bangalore and Miami, the title was the 31st of Williams’ career. The eight-time Grand Slam champion improved to 19-1 this year, showing no signs of injury woes that hampered her last year.
“That’s my main goal, just stay healthy,” Williams said. “If I’m healthy and playing my best it’s hard to beat me.”
Williams overcame a run of unforced errors late in the second set and improved to 5-1 against Zvonareva.
“It was definitely an up and down final,” Williams said. “I’ve got a lot of errors today, but I was glad I was able to come through.”
Williams surrendered an early break in the third set, but Zvonareva swatted a forehand down the line wide to return the favor and even the last set 2-2.
Zvonareva netted a forehand on Williams’ second break point chance in the eighth game to hand Serena a 5-3 lead and the US star held, jumping for joy after a service winner that captured the top prize of US$196,900.
Zvonareva double faulted to hand Williams a break and a 2-1 lead and the US veteran held out to claim the first set when the Russian netted a backhand on a second serve after denying Williams on her first two set points.
Williams was denied on two break points by Zvonareva in the first game of the second set before Zvonareva, 23, broke in the sixth game for a 4-2 lead on her way to forcing a third set.
■ ESTORIL OPEN
AFP, ESTORIL, Portugal
Roger Federer won his first title of the season on Sunday when he clinched the Estoril Open with a 7-6 (7/5), 1-2 win over Nikolay Davydenko, who was forced to retire with a leg injury in the second set.
The Swiss, who suffered with glandular fever before January’s Australian Open where he was relieved of his title by Novak Djokovic, broke his duck as he notched a 12th win against no defeats in his career series against the Russian world No. 4.
Federer had won the last of his 54 career titles in November at the Masters Cup in Shanghai.
“It’s great to win a title, it’s fantastic,” said Federer, who has been working this week with Spanish coach Jose Higueras, a claycourt specialist. “This will give me great confidence for the rest of the season having won my first clay tournament of the year.”
The victory was his seventh on the surface and was obtained in challenging, blustery conditions.
“These were the most difficult of the week,” the Swiss holder of 12 Grand Slam titles said. “It was cold as well as windy. This is not the best way to win a match and I’m sorry for Nikolay. But sometimes these things happen.”
The world No. 1 now travels to the Monte Carlo Masters after ending Davydenko’s win streak at 11 matches, a run which included the prestigious Miami Masters title.
“I bounced back and I’m playing well again considering the tough start to season,” Federer said. “I’m playing better. I’m very happy to have reacted to that situation, it’s not easy. It’s been a difficult start to the season, but hopefully from now it’s going to be all easier.”
Davydenko said he felt a muscle pain in his left leg late in the first set while moving sideways. After a medical timeout at the end of the set, the problem returned a few games later.
“When I ran to the left, I felt pain,” said the Russian, who should recover in time to start his match at Monte Carlo tomorrow after treatment. “I tried to fight but I knew there was not much that I could do.”
■ VALENCIA OPEN
AFP, VALENCIA, Spain
Spanish top seed David Ferrer denied fifth-seeded compatriot Nicolas Almagro a third successive Valencia clay court title with a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) win in the final on Sunday.
Almagro, who beat Italy’s Potito Starace in last year’s final and Gilles Simon of France 12 months earlier, led 5-2 in the final set on Sunday and twice served for the title, but local boy Ferrer battled back for victory.
“This has been the most difficult tournament of my career,” said Ferrer, who needed three sets to win his last three ties here.
For the 26-year-old Ferrer, it was his sixth career title and first of this year.
“I lost against a great professional and a great guy,” Almagro said.
■ US CLAY COURT
AFP, HOUSTON, Texas
Spain’s Marcel Granollers-Pujol won his first ATP title on Sunday, defeating top seed James Blake 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 in the final of the US Clay Court Championships.
The 28-year-old American rallied after dropping the first set, but was denied his first clay court title by the 84th-ranked player in the world, one who turned 22 just eight days ago and who was playing in his first ATP final.
Grannollers-Pujol claimed the US$68,000 top prize in the final US tour stop until after Wimbledon. The US$436,000 French Open tuneup is the only clay event on US soil.
Eighth-ranked Blake, who fell to 35-35 lifetime on clay, failed in his bid for an 11th ATP title and fell to 10-12 in ATP finals.
In his only prior ATP final this year, Blake lost to Japanese teen Kei Nishikori at Delray Beach in February.
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