Kirilenko Wins 1st Career Title at WTA Beijing
Posted on September 26, 2005Russian teen Maria Kirilenko navigated the injury bail-outs of Lindsay Davenport, Maria Sharapova, and Venus and Serena Williams to win her career-first title Sunday at the WTA stop in Beijing, defeating German Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-3, 6-4.
"This is my first title and I'm so excited," Kirilenko said. "With the top seeds out, I saw my chance to play well and work hard to make it far in the tournament. It is not often that you get a chance, but this time I took it and it was good for me."
Groenefeld, without a career title, was appearing in her second career final.
"I am sad that I did not win today but I had a good week," Groenefeld said. "I played three good matches to get here. Unfortunately I couldn't do it today. Maria played well and had some good points. I'm not quite sure what happened."
In the doubles final Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Vento-Kabchi won their first title as a team with a win over the Chinese duo of Yan Zi and Zheng Jie 6-2, 6-4.
"This is my first title and I'm so excited," Kirilenko said. "With the top seeds out, I saw my chance to play well and work hard to make it far in the tournament. It is not often that you get a chance, but this time I took it and it was good for me."
Groenefeld, without a career title, was appearing in her second career final.
"I am sad that I did not win today but I had a good week," Groenefeld said. "I played three good matches to get here. Unfortunately I couldn't do it today. Maria played well and had some good points. I'm not quite sure what happened."
In the doubles final Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Vento-Kabchi won their first title as a team with a win over the Chinese duo of Yan Zi and Zheng Jie 6-2, 6-4.