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Petrova upsets Mauresmo to sin Qatar Open
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-05 09:59
Nadia Petrova beat Australian Open champion Amelie Mauresmo 6-3, 7-5 Saturday
to win the Qatar Open for the second WTA title of her career.
Nadia Petrova of
Russia celebrates after beating Ai Sugiyama of Japan during their
semifinal match of WTA Qatar total Open at the Khalifa tennis complex in
Doha Qatar, Friday, March 3, 2006. Petrova defeated Sugiyama by 6-1, 7-6
to enter the final match. [AP] |
In defeating
the world's No. 2 player, Petrova becomes the third Russian to win the Qatar
title in six years. Anastasia Myskina won twice, along with Maria Sharapova.
Playing mostly from the baseline, Petrova broke Mauresmo three times in the
first set. Petrova, seeded second and ranked eighth, then broke in the 11th game
of the second set and served out to win. Petrova improved to 2-4 against her
French opponent.
"I am absolutely delighted with my effort," Petrova said. "I played my best
match here in Doha today against probably the best player of the tournament."
The top-seeded Mauresmo, who has two other titles this year in addition to
the Australian Open, trails only Kim Clijsters in the rankings.
"It's been a great week for me," Mauresmo said. "I think Nadia played a great
match. Congratulations to her. I loved playing here in front of a lot of French
fans."
Also Saturday, Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and Ai Sugiyama of Japan won
the doubles final, defeating Ti Ling and Tiantian Sun of China 6-4,
6-4.
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