The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Maiden WTA Tier-1 title for Ana Ivanovic

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 23, 2006

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Sport - Tennis

Maiden WTA Tier-1 title for Ana Ivanovic

MONTREAL: Serbian teenager Ana Ivanovic beat Martina Hingis 6-2, 6-3 on Monday to claim the rain-delayed $1.34 million Rogers Cup title, her second career tournament victory and first in a WTA Tour Tier-1 event.

``This is a big step for me,'' Ivanovic said. ``She's a great player. In juniors, I watched her winning grand slam titles and now I played against her and played good tennis. Basically, now I can consider myself one of the top players and that gives me motivation to work even harder to stay at this level.''

No go

In the semifinals, Hingis was able to counter Svetlana Kuznetsova's big shots with clever drops and slices, but that didn't work against Ivanovic, who did not appear intimidated by playing one of the sport's biggest names. The seventh-seeded Hingis, a dominant player in the late 1990s, is in her first season back on the tour after a three-year absence due to foot and ankle injuries. Her performance this week will put her back in the top 10 in the WTA Tour rankings for the first time in almost three years.

Hingis had won the Rogers Cup in 1999 and 2000.

Kuznetsova struggles

Svetlana Kuznetsova wanted to get some work in before the U.S. Open.

She got a little more than she had bargained for in the first set before beating American Jill Craybas 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-1 on Monday in the first round of the Pilot Pen.

In the men's draw, American Mardy Fish beat Davide Sanguinetti of Italy 6-3, 6-3, continuing his comeback from a wrist injury.

The results:

At Montreal (WTA Rogers Cup): Final: Ana Ivanovic bt Martina Hingis 6-2, 6-3.

At New Haven (Pilot Pen International): First round: Men: Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo bt Christophe Rochus 6-3, 7-5; Robin Vik bt Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 6-2; Greg Rusedski bt Ivo Karlovic 7-6(2), 6-7(7), 6-2; Boris Pashanski bt Gilles Muller 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(3); Max Mirnyi bt Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 7-6(6); Mardy Fish bt Davide Sanguinetti 6-3, 6-3; Julien Benneteau bt Luis Horna 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-1; Feliciano Lopez bt Filippo Volandri 6-3, 6-4; Samuel Querrey bt Alberto Martin 6-3, 6-2; Michael Berrer bt Ryan Sweeting 7-5, 6-2; Gilles Simon bt Justin Gimelstob 4-6, 7-5, 6-1; Marc Gicquel bt Jan Hajek 7-6(3), 6-3. Women: Francesca Schiavone bt Elena Likhovtseva 6-3, 6-4; Marion Bartoli bt Gisela Dulko 6-3, 6-2; Samantha Stosur bt Nathalie Dechy 4-6, 5-2 (retired); Tian Tian Sun bt Patty Schnyder 6-1, 6-3; Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Jill Craybas 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-1; Anabel Medina Garrigues bt Eleni Daniilidou 6-4, 6-1. — Agencies

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