Today, Sara Errani became the first Italian player in history to win four tournaments in one season. She beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-1, 6-3 to take the Palermo title, and--the entire week--dropped only 16 games. Errani and her doubles partner, Roberta Vinci, just came off of a 25-match winning streak; they were finally stopped at Wimbledon.
"It's a magic period for me," the Italian star said. Indeed.
Zahlavova Strycova, as reported yesterday, won the doubles title with partner Renata Voracova. It was a very good tournament for her.
Meanwhile, in Stanford, Serena William defended her 2011 title by beating lucky loser Coco Vandeweghe 7-5, 6-3 in the final. Vandeweghe served for the first set, but was not able to sustain what momentum she had. Williams, for her part, has been suffering from jet-lag insomnia since arriving in California, and looked fairly sluggish, but a less-than-stellar Serena is still a Serena who can lift a trophy. The Wimbledon champion made a point of moving Vandeweghe around the court as much as possible, and she also took care of her serve.
Vandeweghe had a great week. After not winning a main draw match all season, she took out Melinda Czink, Jelena Jankovic, Urszula Radwanska, and Yanina Wickmayer.
Marina Erakovic and Heather Watson won the doubles title. The unseeded Erakovic and Watson upset top seeds Jarmila Gajdasova and Vania King 7-5, 7-6. The champions served for the match at 5-3 in the second, but were broken. They won the tiebreak 9-7.
Interesting that Errani & Vinci didn't play doubles in Palermo (they won in '11, and Errani shared the title in '10 with another partner), and aren't doing so in Bastad, either. Since those were the last two tour clay court events this season, their 27-match clay court streak will continue into 2013.
ReplyDeleteMy guess was that Errani may have been feeling a little tired (for her) and wanted a break from double events. Just a guess, though.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Serena. For defending her title, jet-lag and all!
ReplyDeleteShe said she stayed up watching Desperate Housewives and crying! Serena.....
ReplyDeleteDiane,
ReplyDeleteThe last season is sad! Lots of character death (didn't you see the previews?)...and the end of a beloved show is always hard. Those shows last longer than a lot of relationships and friendships.
Not that I'm am avid follower of that show... I swear!
That show got bashed a lot, but I actually thought it held up well through the years. It was, first and foremost, a satire and anyway--it was worth it all just for Gabriela!
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