It was a pleasure to watch Magdalena Rybarikova dip into her considerable bag of
tricks during the Memphis final tonight. What wasn't a pleasure was watching the
match end after the first set. 6th seed Rebecca Marino, who suffered a left
abdominal strain in the semifinals, just wasn't herself, and had to retire at
2-6 because of the pain. (Tennis Channel commentators said they didn't know
anything about the injury. I did, as I'm sure many fans did. Business as usual
with commentators.) It was too bad for Marino, for fans--and for
Rybarikova.The good part is that Rybarikova, having fallen out of the top 100, really needed this career boost. This is her second WTA Tour title: She won the Birmingham tournament in 2009.
Between them, Rybarikova and Marino hit 63 aces during the tournament, with Marino hitting 40 of those. Both women have really fine serves, and I look forward to watching both of them throughout the season.
The doubles title was won by 2nd seeds Olga Govortsova and Alla Kudryavtseva, who defeated 4th seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 6-3, 4-6, 10-8.
