The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Dulgheru clinches title

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 24, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Dulgheru clinches title

Warsaw: Romanian qualifier Alexandra Dulgheru beat eighth-seeded Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-0 to win the Warsaw Open on her WTA Tour debut on Saturday.

Bondarenko had two chances to serve out the first set but couldn’t capitalize, with Dulgheru breaking to force a tiebreaker.

The 39th-ranked Bondarenko rallied with two breaks in the second to lead 4-0 before the match was delayed for about 25 minutes due to rain.

Dulgheru, ranked No. 201, picked up an early break to lead 2-0 in the final set before rain again forced the players from the court. After returning about 10 minutes later, Dulgheru reeled off four straight games to close it out.

Rezai is champion

At Strasbourg, Aravane Rezai of France beat Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 7-6(2), 6-1 to win her first WTA Tour title.

Rezai is the first Frenchwoman to win at Strasbourg, where past winners include Steffi Graf, Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport.

Garcia Lopez wins

Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez won his first career ATP title as he took the Kitzbuhel claycourt tournament with a 3-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 victory over Frenchman Julien Benneteau here on Saturday.

Serbia triumphs

At Dusseldorf, newcomer Serbia clinched the World Team Cup after Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki won the singles matches against host Germany to secure an unbeatable 2-0 lead.

Nicolas Keifer and Mischa Zverev won the redundant doubles rubber to pull one back for the host.

The results: At Kitzbuhel (Austria Open): Final: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez bt Julien Benneteau 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-3 .

At Warsaw (Warsaw Open): Final: Alexandra Dulgheru bt Alona Bondarenko 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-0.

At Strasbourg (Strasbourg International): Final: Aravane Rezai bt Lucie Hradecka 7-6(2), 6-1.

At Dusseldorf (World Team Cup): Final: Serbia 2 bt Germany 1 [ Nenad Zimonjic & Viktor Troicki lost to Nicolas Keifer & Mischa Zverev 7-5, 4-6, 10-7; Viktor Troicki bt Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 7-6(5); Janko Tipsarevic bt Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-4]. — Agencies