Petrova captured her 1st WTA title in Austria

LINZ (Austria)—Russia’s Nadia Petrova captured her first WTA title Sunday, defeating Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the Generali Ladies final. Petrova, a successful doubles player ranked 10th in singles, was playing in the arena where in 2003 she reached her first final on the tour.
“It’s a wonderful feeling,” said the third-seeded Petrova, who also made the finals in Berlin and Bangkok this season. “I have worked so hard for this to happen and now it’s come true”.
Schnyder won this year at Gold Coast, Australia, and Cincinnati. The fourth-seeded Swiss also had taken four of the previous six matches against Petrova but the Russian had won their last match — in straight sets in Linz in 2003.
“I knew it would be tough, especially because Patty is playing in great form,” Petrova said. “But I beat her two years ago and I was certain I had the potential to repeat this success”.
Schnyder was playing with an injured hand. In the semifinals, she cut her hand and bruised it after smashing her racket on the ground. She was able to play after taking pain killers.
She pulled ahead 3-1 but Petrova tied it 3-3. Schnyder again applied pressure and, behind excellent serve-and-volley tennis, took the set.
“I was rather nervous and made silly mistakes at the beginning,” said Petrova, who finished with 37 unforced errors. Schnyder committed 43.
In the second set, Schnyder’s serve and forehand faltered. She returned well but Petrova evened the match. In the final set, Petrova took control. Serving hard and hitting tight angles, she prevented Schnyder from finding her rhythm and cruised to a 4-0 lead.
“This was the point, when I got really nervous,” Petrova said. “Being so close to my first title made my legs disappear”.
But the Russian hung on and wrapped up victory in just more than two hours.
“I won 11 WTA titles in the doubles, but I was still waiting for a singles one,” she said. “Now this waiting has come to an end”.—Agencies