Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei and Peng Shuai of China came back from the brink of defeat to capture the Tier III Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic doubles title over unseeded Marta Domachowska and Nadia Petrova.
Although both have previously won two Tour doubles titles with other partners, the win is their first as a combination.
In the nail-biting final the pair even held three match points on Petrova's serve at 5-4 in the second set, only to see Hsieh and Peng draw level, seize the ensuing tie-break and then the decider for a 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 10-7 victory."It was a great match today," Peng said.
"It was really exciting for us and the crowd too, I think. I'm really happy to win with my partner. We have been good friends for eight years now and she's always been helping me and giving me advice, so to share this with her, it really doesn't get any better than this."
(News via Sony Ericsson WTA website, Image via ESPN)
Bronze medal winner France's Florence Gavellier, right, Netherland's gold medal winner Esther Vergeer, center, and silver medal winner Korie Homan, left, celebrate their win at the women's wheelchair tennis singles award ceremony at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games in Beijing.
She won 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (5) to extend a streak that has lasted 5 1/2 years."I mean, I am going to lose matches one day," she said.
"But I was just really, really hoping it was not going to be today. I was just this close from losing this match, the most important match of my whole year." Vergeer won double gold medals in Sydney and Athens.
She will go for that again Monday in doubles with partner Jisek Griffioen. They face Americans Beth Arnoult and Kaitlyn Verfuerth in the final.
France's Florence Gravellier won the singles bronze, beating Griffioen 6-3, 6-4.
(Via The Associated Press)
Russia won its fourth Fed Cup in five years Sunday, defeating Spain when Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 to clinch the title.
The victory gave Russia an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the top team event in women’s tennis.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Kuznetsova said. “Even though I wasn’t playing my best game, it’s so important for me to win this point for the team.”
The Russians made it 4-0 when Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova downed Nuria Llagostera Vives and Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-1 in doubles.
Kuznetsova used powerful ground strokes to race ahead 4-0 in the first set. Medina Garrigues regrouped to lead 6-5 and served out the set on a clear sunny day at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid’s clay court.
The players traded breaks to reach 3-3 in the second set before Kuznetsova won three straight games to even the match. She then got a late break in the third to secure the victory.
“She’s a player who puts great weight on her deliveries,” Medina Garrigues said. “I gave it my all.”
Kuznetsova was confident her stamina would carry her against an opponent who refused to wilt.“I gave her a chance to get back,” she said. “I started to play a little bit of baseline tennis against her game. I felt so much more energy. knew my fitness was better.”
On Saturday, Vera Zvonareva beat Medina Garrigues, and Kuznetsova defeated Carla Suarez Navarro.
(Via Yahoo! Sports)
World no. 1 Rafael Nadal recently suffered an embarrassing incident in a ceremony that pays tribute to Spanish athletes who managed to win medals in the Beijing Olympic Games 2008.
If you look closer to the pictures, Nadal is drenched in sweat! The reporters laughed and said that Nadal sweated even more than during a tennis match.
