Safarova Wins Gold Coast Over Pannetta

GOLD COAST, Australia - Czech teenager Lucie Safarova continued to prove she is one of the true up-and-comers on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, defeating Italy's Flavia Pennetta 63 64 in Saturday's championship final to capture her third and biggest Tour singles title at the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts in Gold Coast, Australia.

Safarova, who was unseeded, came out on fire, punishing forehands from all corners of the court in building a quick 5-1 first-set lead. Although she did manage to recover one break, Pennetta had too much ground to catch up on, and Safarova served out the set in the ninth game. The Czech teenager pounced again mid-second set and broke for a 4-2 lead, and the two women held on to their serves the rest of the way until Safarova served it out at love to put away the one-hour, 27-minute match.

"Today was a very tough match, but I’ve played pretty well all week and it was great to come away with a title in my first event of the year," Safarova said. "[Pennetta] played a lot better in the second set, but I held my serve in tough situations and managed to break her. I’m tired after a long week, but I’m really looking forward to playing next week and then in the Australian Open."

"It’s disappointing to lose a final, but I’m glad I had a good week," said Pennetta, who is now 3-3 lifetime in Tour singles finals. "It’s been good preparation for the Australian Open, and I really like playing on the Gold Coast. I’ve never won a match at the Australian Open (in three prior attempts), so hopefully I can play like I did here and win that first match."

For Safarova, the Tier III Gold Coast victory represents her third career Tour singles title, having already captured Tier IV titles at Estoril and Forest Hills last season. It was also a week to remember for her trio of impressive straight set victories, notching her career-first Top 10 victory in the quarterfinals against world No.7, top seed and defending champion Patty Schnyder, then ousting No.3 seed Dinara Safina and No.4 seed Pennetta in the last two rounds. Safarova is expected to vault from No.47 to No.35 on Monday's Tour Singles Rankings, while Pennetta is projected to rise from No.23 to No.20, her career Top 20 debut.

In the doubles final, No.2 seeds Safina and Meghann Shaughnessy routed top seeds Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs 62 63, capturing their very first Tour doubles title together in only their second partnership. The only previous time they teamed up was in 2004 at Sydney, where they reached the final before falling in three sets to Black and Stubbs. It is Safina’s third career Tour doubles title and Shaughnessy’s 13th.

Although the efforts of Safarova and Pennetta are extremely impressive, the biggest story of the week was clearly the return of five-time Grand Slam champion and former world No.1 Martina Hingis, who won three rounds against prominent Tour players (including No.7 seed Klara Koukalova) before bowing out in three tough sets on Friday to Pennetta. The 25-year-old Swisswoman has been granted a series of wild cards for the Australian hardcourt swing, next going to Sydney and the Australian Open before continuing her full-blown comeback throughout 2006.

Hingis' analysis on this week's performance: "If I would evaluate this tournament right away, I'm very happy. I'm very positive with what I've achieved this week, and I don't think anybody expected me to (have these results) this week, so it's very good." (WTA)