Top-seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US and China’s Yan Zi beat Taiwan’s Chuang Chia-jung and China’s Peng Shuai 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 to capture the MPS Group Championships doubles title on Sunday.
“This is my second time here and it is awesome,” Mattek-Sands said.
She won in 2008 with Vladkova Uhlirova. The winners split US$11,000.
Meanwhile in the singles, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki took advantage of Olga Gorvotsova’s numerous mistakes and successfully defended her title with a 6-2, 7-5 victory.
Gorvotsova, who made 41 unforced errors, committed five of her eight double-faults in the first set, but then jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set against the second-ranked player in the world.
The unseeded Gorvotsova, who knocked out No. 2 seed Alona Bondarenko and third-seeded Dominika Cibulkova to reach the final, led 5-4 in the second set, before losing a pair of set-points, including a backhander into the net aimed at an open court.
The game lasted 22 points and she lost on a double-fault.
“I think that broke her a little bit,” Wozniacki said. “At five-all, I had the advantage [at] that point.”
■US MEN’S CLAY COURT
AP, HOUSTON, TEXAS
Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina won his first tournament in more than three years with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Sam Querrey of the US at the US Men’s Clay Court Championships on Sunday.
The unseeded Argentine pulled away from the hard-serving Querrey in the second set for his fifth tour championship and his first since beating Carlos Moya at Acapulco in March 2007.
“I was feeling strong, but I did notice that he was starting to get tired, so I started to have a lot of chances in the third set,” Chela said.
Ranked 82nd in the world, Chela stayed steady on his favorite surface and wrapped up the title on the first match-point when Querrey returned a serve out of bounds. Chela earned US$79,900 and Querrey took home US$42,000.
Querrey, ranked No. 25, hit 19 winners to two for Chela in the first set. By the end of the second set, however, Chela was matching Querrey winner for winner.
“He was playing aggressive and I was playing defensive,” Chela said. “I did get aggressive at times. After I lost the first set, I figured I had to play a little more aggressive, otherwise playing so defensive I wasn’t going to win it.”
Chela started to take control in the ninth game of the second set when he held after Querrey hit four straight errors. Querrey served two aces in the 10th game, but he also double-faulted and lost the first set-point with a forehand that sailed out of bounds.
Querrey held his serve after two break-points in the third set to level at 3-3. That was his last charge. Chela held in the seventh game and broke Querrey in the eighth. Querrey won just one point in the final game.
■GRAND PRIX HASSAN II
AP, CASABLANCA, MOROCCO
Top-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka beat Romania’s Victor Hanescu 6-2, 6-3 to win the Grand Prix Hassan II on Sunday.
The Swiss player broke Hanescu twice in the first set and held serve despite landing only 40 percent of his first serves and double-faulting twice.
Wawrinka’s service improved in the second set as he made 63 percent of first serves and he won four games in a row to take a 5-1 lead.
Third-seeded Hanescu rallied for 5-3, but Wawrinka saved two break-points in the ninth game, before clinching victory on a backhand netted by his opponent.
“I’m very happy to win here today. It has been an incredible week, in part because of you. You made me feel at home,” Wawrinka told a cheering Moroccan crowd.
It was Wawrinka’s second title on the ATP Tour.
“For me it was a very good week in Casablanca,” Hanescu said. “I played my best tennis, maybe not today, but Stanislas was very good and very aggressive, and he deserved to win the trophy.”
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