Jarmila Gajdosova bounced back from losing the first set to defeat Corinna Dentoni 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 and claim the OEC Taipei Ladies’ Open singles title yesterday afternoon.
It proved to be the Slovakian’s toughest match of the week against an opponent who beat No. 1 seed Chan Yung-jan on Saturday to reach the final.
The 10th game of the first set, with Dentoni leading 5-4 and Gajdosova serving, proved decisive. Dentoni produced a couple of great returns of serve to earn herself two set points. On the second, Gajdosova sent a forehand long to leave herself with an uphill task.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Things were looking ominous when the Slovak found herself 0-3 down in the second set, before breaking Dentoni in the fifth game after the Italian sent a difficult return long.
This proved to be a turning point as Dentoni was broken again in game seven, earning herself a code violation warning in the process as her racket took the brunt of her increasingly visible and audible frustration.
Gajdosova served for the set at 5-4 up, hitting an ace before throwing in a double-fault to keep the crowd on the edge of their seats. However, a cross-court forehand winner followed, earning Gajdosova the set.
The third set proved one-sided as the Slovak raced to a 5-1 lead against an opponent who was having trouble controlling her emotions. A lucky break, when the ball dropped just inside Dentoni’s half of the court after hitting the net, gave the No. 6 seed two match points.
It was all over when Dentoni put a forehand into the net on the first of them, handing the Slovakian the title.
After the match Gajdosova said she was pleased to have put her injury problems of the past two years behind her. Her ranking had tumbled from 64 in 2006 to outside the top 200 at one stage, but her performances in Taipei this week show it may not be long before she is back among the elite of world tennis.
“I’m really happy and hopefully I can continue like that,” Gajdosova said. “I was a little nervous in the first set and didn’t serve as well as I had all week.”
The Australian based right-hander said she calmed down as the match progressed and served better.
“I didn’t make such silly errors as I did in the first set,” she said.
The doubles final proved to be a less competitive affair, as No. 1 seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Chuang Chia-jung beat fellow Taiwanese Hsu Wen-hsin and Hwang I-hsuan 6-3, 6-3.
Hsu and Hwang were broken three times in the first set, most damagingly at 3-5 down when Chuang earned set point with a volley, before wrapping things up with a backhand winner down the line.
The unseeded pair again found themselves trailing 3-5 in the second set as Hsieh served for the match. The No. 2 ranked Taiwanese singles player served wide to Hwang’s backhand on the first match point, which the 20-year-old from Tainan could only send into the net to end the match.
It was Chuang and Hsieh’s second doubles title in quick succession following their win in Seoul last month.
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