Yesterday belonged to the Russian teenager Maria Kirilenko as
she won her first ever WTA title in Beijing at the China Open.
Kirilenko defeated Anna-Lena Groenefeld, of Germany, in an
absorbing 6-3, 6-4 victory in the women's final.
Following an array of big name withdrawals, the centre court was
left to the two promising stars, but that did not influence the
enthusiastic fans. Over 5,000 spectators packed the stands, the
highest figure during the two-week event.
Cheered by hundreds of Russian fans, the 18-year-old Russia
displayed a sparkling performance, dominating the match from start
to finish.
"I am so happy to win the title. It's my first championship and
it is so amazing," said Kirilenko at a news conference afterwards.
"I still cannot believe it was for real."
Kirilenko reached her only other Tour final this year at the
Tier IV event in Hyderabad, falling to Australia's Nicole Pratt.
Starting the year at No 111, she has now made 45th after a run to
the fourth round at Indian Wells, a WTA Tier I event.
"I hope this is a good start for me," said Kirilenko. "Russia
has a lot of top players and I really want to join them."
Groenefeld was also competing in her second career Tour final
after finishing runner-up to Conchita Martinez at the Tier IV event
in Pattaya City earlier this year.
After receiving a first-round bye, Groenefeld notched up several
impressive victories en route to the semis this week, starting with
a victory over former world top 10 player Ai Sugiyama, of Japan, in
the second round, then a win over hard-hitting Chinese teenager
Peng Shuai in the quarters.
Both finalists fought hard right through the match, as Kirilenko
survived nine deuces to hold serve and tied at 2-2. She then
stepped up to break the German twice and closed the match with a
wide cross-court winner.
"The beginning was very tough for me," said Kirilenko. "I spent
some time coping with her serve, that really pushed me."
The nine-seeded Groenefeld, who survived a tight opening set but
then cruised to a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Polish teenager Marta
Domachowska in her semi-final match, tried her best to recover form
as she gained an early break of service and reeled off her over 180
kph service to keep her title dream alive.
But after an energy-sapping first set that lasted for one hour,
Groenefeld appeared to run out of gas in the second set, which saw
her slow down and start to make unforced errors.
Kirilenko, who did not drop a set en route to the final this
week, took her chance, stamping her authority on the court in the
second set when she broke the German's serve in the fourth and
sixth games to lead 5-3.
The German showed no sign of letting the game slip away as she
broke back to 5-4, forcing Kirilenko to call a medical timeout.
But it was the fighting Russian who held her nerve to break
Groenefeld again before wrapping up the match in 98 minutes.
"I tried to forget that I was playing for my first
championship," said Kirilenko. "That made me too nervous, but
finally I won. It's so great.
Her German rival also had high praise for her.
"She played so well," said Groenefeld. "A big serve is my weapon
but she just returned too good and I didn't get back my feeling
anymore, that's the key to why I lost the game."
The China Open 2005 was an injury-plagued tournament. In
addition to top-ranked Sharapova, top seeds Venus Williams and
Lindsay Davenport also withdrew with injuries.
In the doubles final Sunday, Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain and
Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela defeated Chinese duo Yan Zi and
Zheng Jie 6-2, 6-4.
(China Daily September 26, 2005)
