Petrova, Golovin Meet for Amelia Island Title

AMELIA ISLAND, FL, USA - Nadia Petrova is now just one step away from her first ever title defense, but she'll have to get through one of her nemeses to achieve the feat, as the 2007 Bausch & Lomb Championships final was set on Saturday in Amelia Island.

Petrova, the No.1 seed at the Tier II event, clinched a tight first set then cruised through the second for a 76(4) 61 win over No.13 seed Sybille Bammer. Petrova gained an early break and held leads of 3-0 and 4-1 in the first set, but Bammer broke back to bring the proceedings back on serve. Petrova had two set points with the Austrian serving 5-6 and squandered them, but eventually closed it out routinely in the tie-break.

"She started playing really well, coming into net and getting everything back," said Petrova on the first set turnaround. "She really made it difficult but I played well in the tie-break and in the second set I was able really to cruise. It was all about that first set; if I lost that first set, it would've made it much more difficult."

"I was a little bit tired mentally," said Bammer, who had defeated No.3-seeded Daniela Hantuchova in the quarterfinals, her third Top 20 win of the year and her career. "I wasn't able to play my game. The first set was close but I wasn't able to win it. My mental fitness was not so good today."

Petrova won the Bausch & Lomb Championships title a year ago, which propelled her to an incredible three-tournament win streak that would eventually put her among the favorites for the Roland Garros title. She has not defended a title yet.

"It'll be special if I can defend here, because I haven't done that yet. It would be another step forward in my career. I really like this tournament and the crowd is on my side during my matches, so I just really enjoy being out there."

Earlier in the afternoon it was one of Petrova's most difficult adversaries, Tatiana Golovin, who earned the other final berth. The No.8-seeded Frenchwoman beat No.6 seed Ana Ivanovic, 64 36 64. She had not beaten Ivanovic in their five previous encounters but this time Golovin hung tough, even in the most critical of times; she allowed a 5-2 third set lead and 40-15 while serving it out at 5-4 to disappear, but got her first win over Ivanovic on her third match point.

"I'm just glad I finally got a win over her," Golovin said. "In past matches, we had three-setters and tough two-setters, so I knew I could beat her; we have similar styles, using our forehands and serves but our backhands being a bit weaker. But today I was proud of myself because I was just able to keep at it and focus. I think I just really wanted to win more than her today."

"She served well and played some very good points in the deciding moments," Ivanovic said. "It was windy and cold and it took me a little time to get into the match; but at the end of the day, it was the same for both of us. I really don't think I was as aggressive as I was supposed to be to beat her.

"I enjoyed my time here, and had some good wins. It was going well except for today, but I have a lot of positives I can take. I look forward to coming back."

Ivanovic's run to the semis was impressive, considering it was her first event on green clay; but Golovin's run is similarly exceptional, considering it is only her second attempt on the surface. She made the semis at Charleston in 2005.

"I used to think I wasn't that good on clay, but the green clay has been good to me," the Frenchwoman said. "It's good preparation for the red clay as well as the French Open, which is a big goal for me."

Petrova and Golovin have played five times before, with Golovin leading that series, 4-1. She won their first three encounters, including on this same green clay court surface two years ago in Charleston; the Russian downed her for the first time in the Stuttgart final last fall, but the French teen won their last meeting, in the round of 16 at Indian Wells, when Petrova retired with heat illness.

"I'll just take it as another match - I don't really pay much attention to who is on the other side of the net," Petrova said. "I know how to play on this surface, and I am playing well, so I hope to prove tomorrow that this is really my surface."

"It'll be a matter of how well I recover from today," said Golovin, who spoke to the press as Petrova's semi was on court. "Hopefully they'll go on a long time!"

The singles final begins at 1pm local time Sunday, followed by the doubles final.