American King in 1st WTA Final at Bangkok
Posted on October 15, 2006BANGKOK, Thailand -- Tamarine Tanasugarn continued her impressive fall resurgence on Saturday, cruising through to her first final in three-and-a-half years at the Tier III PTT Bangkok Open. On Sunday she'll take on Vania King, one of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's most promising young stars, who reached her very first career singles final.
In the first semifinal, Tanasugarn ended the career-best run of in-form Frenchwoman Severine Bremond, 62 63. The No.9-seeded Bremond held leads of 2-0 in the first set and 3-1 in the second but a left thigh strain and numerous three set wins caught up with her, and the more tenacious Tanasugarn capitalized. A wild card into this event, the Thai hit her flat groundstrokes to perfection to prevail in one hour, 26 minutes.
"Bremond is very talented, has lots of shots, and is comfortable with the serve and volley; it was hard to tell what she was going to do out there," Tanasugarn said. "Breaking to level at 3-3 was a key game for me because if she had held she would've gone up 4-2; that would have been harder to come back from."
"I was so happy to reach the semifinals, but I was tired from all the matches this week and my injury was making it really difficult for me to run," said Bremond, who was in her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour semifinal. "I kept trying, to make the best match and trying to win, but Tanasugarn was playing too well for me."
Tanasugarn has been reviving her career in the weeks following this year's US Open, winning seven main draw matches (having won a total of only two in all her previous main draws this year), reaching her first quarterfinal in over a year at Kolkata, and now reaching her first final since winning her lone career title (2003 Hyderabad). This week, she ranks Top 100 for the first time in over a year.
"It was fantastic out there today, and my other matches too," Tanasugarn added. "The crowd have been so supportive, they were singing to cheer me on out there. The final tomorrow is going to be tough."
King continues dream run, reaches first singles final
King grabbed her very first Tour singles final berth with a 61 64 victory over No.6 seed Meghann Shaughnessy, in one hour, 12 minutes. Shaughnessy took a 3-2 second set lead only to see her 17-year-old compatriot reel off four of the last five games of the match. It was the first meeting between the two Americans.
"I'm very excited to be in my first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles final," said an overjoyed King. "The key today was again my serve, but also my consistency. She played up and down and I think was frustrated with not being consistent."
"It was an ugly match for me; I didn't serve well and couldn't get a rhythm from the baseline," Shaughnessy said. "She is playing solid, but I didn't do anything to challenge her. I had a couple chances at the end of the first set then early in the second, but I didn't capitalize on them."
King proclaimed her goals and perspective remain unchanged in spite of the run.
"Of course, every singles title is magic, but I want to keep things in perspective, and not get caught up in highs and lows of winning or having a certain ranking. If I do the best I can and keep improving, that'll help me keep my perspective."
Tanasugarn and King will be playing for the first time, and neither player has lost a set en route to the final.
"I don't know too much about her," said King of her upcoming opponent. "We've never played against each other, but I did practice once with her in Australia this year. What I do know is that she fights hard and so do I. It'll be a good match."
Tanasugarn will bring the experience of six prior career finals to the table, going 1-5 in those (capturing the aforementioned Hyderabad title and finishing runner-up five times, including once nearby, in Pattaya City).
King will also feature in the doubles final, partnering Croatia's Jelena Kostanic and taking on Argentine-South African team Mariana Diaz-Oliva and Natalie Grandin. King and Kostanic are playing their third overall event together and have reached finals at all three, finishing runner-up two weeks ago in Guangzhou and capturing the Tokyo [Japan Open] title last week. Diaz-Oliva is playing her last tournament before retirement.
-- WTA
In the first semifinal, Tanasugarn ended the career-best run of in-form Frenchwoman Severine Bremond, 62 63. The No.9-seeded Bremond held leads of 2-0 in the first set and 3-1 in the second but a left thigh strain and numerous three set wins caught up with her, and the more tenacious Tanasugarn capitalized. A wild card into this event, the Thai hit her flat groundstrokes to perfection to prevail in one hour, 26 minutes.
"Bremond is very talented, has lots of shots, and is comfortable with the serve and volley; it was hard to tell what she was going to do out there," Tanasugarn said. "Breaking to level at 3-3 was a key game for me because if she had held she would've gone up 4-2; that would have been harder to come back from."
"I was so happy to reach the semifinals, but I was tired from all the matches this week and my injury was making it really difficult for me to run," said Bremond, who was in her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour semifinal. "I kept trying, to make the best match and trying to win, but Tanasugarn was playing too well for me."
Tanasugarn has been reviving her career in the weeks following this year's US Open, winning seven main draw matches (having won a total of only two in all her previous main draws this year), reaching her first quarterfinal in over a year at Kolkata, and now reaching her first final since winning her lone career title (2003 Hyderabad). This week, she ranks Top 100 for the first time in over a year.
"It was fantastic out there today, and my other matches too," Tanasugarn added. "The crowd have been so supportive, they were singing to cheer me on out there. The final tomorrow is going to be tough."
King continues dream run, reaches first singles final
King grabbed her very first Tour singles final berth with a 61 64 victory over No.6 seed Meghann Shaughnessy, in one hour, 12 minutes. Shaughnessy took a 3-2 second set lead only to see her 17-year-old compatriot reel off four of the last five games of the match. It was the first meeting between the two Americans.
"I'm very excited to be in my first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles final," said an overjoyed King. "The key today was again my serve, but also my consistency. She played up and down and I think was frustrated with not being consistent."
"It was an ugly match for me; I didn't serve well and couldn't get a rhythm from the baseline," Shaughnessy said. "She is playing solid, but I didn't do anything to challenge her. I had a couple chances at the end of the first set then early in the second, but I didn't capitalize on them."
King proclaimed her goals and perspective remain unchanged in spite of the run.
"Of course, every singles title is magic, but I want to keep things in perspective, and not get caught up in highs and lows of winning or having a certain ranking. If I do the best I can and keep improving, that'll help me keep my perspective."
Tanasugarn and King will be playing for the first time, and neither player has lost a set en route to the final.
"I don't know too much about her," said King of her upcoming opponent. "We've never played against each other, but I did practice once with her in Australia this year. What I do know is that she fights hard and so do I. It'll be a good match."
Tanasugarn will bring the experience of six prior career finals to the table, going 1-5 in those (capturing the aforementioned Hyderabad title and finishing runner-up five times, including once nearby, in Pattaya City).
King will also feature in the doubles final, partnering Croatia's Jelena Kostanic and taking on Argentine-South African team Mariana Diaz-Oliva and Natalie Grandin. King and Kostanic are playing their third overall event together and have reached finals at all three, finishing runner-up two weeks ago in Guangzhou and capturing the Tokyo [Japan Open] title last week. Diaz-Oliva is playing her last tournament before retirement.
-- WTA