Sharapova Holds Off Hantuchova to Capture Zurich Crown

ZÜRICH, Switzerland - One of the grittiest competitors was let loose at the Zürich Open on Sunday, and although Daniela Hantuchova was able to squeeze out the middle set it was to no avail, as Maria Sharapova regrouped in the third to complete a hard-fought 61 46 63 victory for her fourth title of the year.

Just like she had done in her first three rounds, as well as throughout her career in general, Sharapova battled for each and every point in the near-two-hour final. After a lopsided first set, the drama picked up in the second; Hantuchova broke in the opening game, held onto the break throughout the set, and finally evened the match at a set apiece after a tight 10th game, where she saved five break points, all with winners, closing it out on her third set point. It was the first time in their last five meetings she was able to claim a set.

Sharapova was able to turn the tides in the third, however; on the strength of one break in the fourth game, which put her up 3-1, she put herself back in control of the match. In the end she notched her fifth win in six meetings with the Slovak.

"She served better in the second set; in the third I was finally able to convert on all those break points," said Sharapova, who also survived tough tests in earlier wins over Shahar Peer and Katarina Srebotnik, saving set points in the second set of both. "I'm happy how I dealt with everything this week and I played really well to get out of some tough situations.

"I try to play my best at the bigger events and this week I improved as I went on with each match."

Although disappointed, Hantuchova was reflective and gracious in defeat.

"I started off too excited; I was too eager being in my first final for a while," said Hantuchova, whose last championship round appearance came over a year ago at Los Angeles. "After the first set my mum just told me to calm down and not go for crazy shots. I have to give Maria a lot of credit, for how she closed it out with those two aces; that's just too good. That's the difference between her and me at the moment, she's used to being in those situations."

For Sharapova, the $1.34-million Zürich Open represents a fourth title of the year and 14th of her career. As she mentioned after the match, she seems to really pick it up at the bigger events; her three other titles this season are all at the Tier I level or above, most noticeably her second career Grand Slam at the US Open.

"I'm trying to keep my level up, because I'm aware I had a let down in 2004 after I won Wimbledon, so I want to make sure that doesn't happen again. It's a long stretch to be away from home for that long but the finish line is in sight now."

The Russian teenager joked when asked about how she'll celebrate Sunday's win.

"Celebration, what celebration? The closest thing I'm going to get to a party will be getting on the plane to Linz tomorrow morning!"

Hantuchova is now 1-4 lifetime in finals, but her run in Zürich was reminiscent of her lone career title run four years ago at another Tier I, Indian Wells. She took two Top 10 players out, namely Patty Schnyder and Svetlana Kuznetsova, and both in straight sets, no less. Additionally, her victory over the fourth-ranked Kuznetsova was her equal-best career victory, having also defeated world No.4s Martina Hingis (Indian Wells in 2002) and Amélie Mauresmo (Eastbourne, 2004).

"I enjoyed every minute of the week. I always enjoy playing here, it's a terrific city. The whole week has given me a lot of confidence; I can be proud of the fact that in the end, I gave it everything I had in both singles and doubles.

"A lot of people ask me why I haven't won more titles, and I ask myself that too. But it's a matter of putting it all together, I know if I keep playing like this, it'll come. I'm definitely a much better, more experienced player than in 2002 and 2003. I wasn't aware of what I was doing on the court then whereas now I am."

Other notable performances this week included quarterfinal runs by two home crowd favorites. Martina Hingis continued her quest for Madrid qualification with a run to the round of eight, defeating Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Nathalie Dechy en route, before falling to Kuznetsova in three sets. And teenager Timea Bacsinszky, who qualified for the main draw, took out Anastasia Myskina en route to her first ever Tour quarterfinal (let alone at a Tier I). There was also the impressive semifinalist finish for Srebotnik, who was playing that round at a Tier I for just the second time. The Slovenian had taken out Elena Dementieva earlier in the week.

Black, Stubbs capture doubles crown

One of the year's most solid teams, Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs, won their second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour doubles title of 2006 with a 75 75 championship win over Liezel Huber and Katarina Srebotnik. It is Black and Stubbs' 11th title as a team; it is Black's 27th individual Tour doubles title, and Stubbs' 55th.

The Zimbabwean-Australian duo had a shortened yet difficult path to the final. In their first round they downed Eleni Daniilidou and Jasmin Woehr in two relatively routine sets, 64 64, then gained a reprieve in the next round when Kveta Peschke and Francesca Schiavone handed them a walkover due to the Italian's calf injury. Their semifinal was a war but they managed to prevail, 64 16 76(3), over one of the toughest duos around, Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama.

Stubbs is second among active players in Tour doubles titles won, behind current doubles World No.1 Lisa Raymond, who owns 57. (WTA)