Vaidisova continues hot streak to win third straight title
Published on October 21, 2005 under World TeamTennis (WTT) News Release
BANGKOK, Thailand - Nicole Vaidisova won her 15th consecutive match and claimed her third straight title when she outlasted top seed Nadia Petrova 61 67(5) 75 in the final of the inaugural PTT Thailand Open, a $200,000 Tier III event. Vaidisova, the No.2 seed, hasn't lost a match since narrowly falling to Petrova in the fourth round at the U.S. Open last month.
"It feels good," exclaimed Vaidisova, whose ranking has leapfrogged to No. 17 in the world. "I don't think it could get any better than this. I was pretty consistent today, and I'm happy with the way I played overall. I think I challenged her today and showed that I could beat a higher ranked player when I'm on my game. My game has improved and I'm happy, but I'm still going to keep working hard on everything overall."
The match opened with both players holding serve. In the fourth game, Vaidisova took charge to earn the first break and went on to win the next three games, closing out the set on her fourth attempt. In the second set, the players exchanged breaks in the third and fourth games, but remained on serve for the rest of the set. Vaidisova saved two break points in the sixth game and one in the seventh, but Petrova was insistent on forcing a decisive, third set.
Vaidisova looked good early on in the final set, firing two aces in the opening game to win all four points and saving a break point on her next service game. Though Petrova earned the first break of the set and led 4-2, nothing was going to stop Vaidisova from winning for the third straight week. Two more breaks on Petrova's serve earned the 16-year-old her fifth title in six career finals.
"I couldn't serve today," Petrova said after the nearly two-hour match. "I've been struggling with a right pectoral strain since my last tournament, and yesterday after my three set match it seemed to get worse. I tried to fight through it, but in the third set it really started to hurt. Then my serve was just very off."
"Today it was hard to challenge. She was going for winners and getting them. I tried to play my best, but I just couldn't do it."
Vaidisova's Bangkok title follows victories in Seoul and Tokyo [Japan Open], making the young Czech the sixth woman to win five Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles before her 17th birthday, after Tracy Austin, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis. With her third straight title, Vaidisova becomes the first player in 2005 to win Tour singles titles in three consecutive weeks (the last player to win titles in three consecutive weeks was Lindsay Davenport in 2004 at Stanford, Los Angeles and San Diego).
Vaidisova joins Kim Clijsters, Davenport, Henin-Hardenne and Maria Sharapova as the only five women to have won three or more Tour singles titles in 2005. Additionally, she leads the Tour with 15 consecutive wins, the longest active match win streak this year (the longest of 2005 is Henin-Hardenne's 24-match win streak).
En route to the final, Vaidisova defeated Abigail Spears, Suchanan Viratprasert, No.6 seed Conchita Martinez and No.3 seed Gisela Dulko, while Petrova earned a berth in the final without facing a seed. For her win, Vaidisova will pocket $30,500 and 120 ranking points, and as the runner-up, Petrova will take home $16,400 and 85 ranking points.
World TeamTennis Stories from October 21, 2005
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- Likhovtseva reaches Kremlin Cup quarterfinals - Sacramento Capitals
- Vaidisova continues hot streak to win third straight title - WTT
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