Zvonareva Successfully Defends Memphis Title
February 19, 2005
Zvonareva Successfully Defends Memphis Title
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Vera Zvonareva won her second consecutive title at the
Region Morgan Keegan Championships & the Cellular South Cup on Saturday
evening, defeating No.3 seed Meghann Shaughnessy in the final.
The 20-year-old Russian was successful in her bid to defend the title she won
12 months ago, needing 1 hour, 33 minutes to post the 76(3) 62 victory.
Zvonareva now has three career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles.
"This was one of the most important matches of my career because it was the
first time I defended a title," Zvonareva said. "It's funny though because I
wasn't thinking about it all while I was out there on the court. To win two
titles back-to-back is just a great experience. It means I played well and
with the level of play on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour these days, that really
means a lot. I love playing here in Memphis and I hope to come back again and
defend my title once more."
Zvonareva did not drop a set during her week-long stay in Memphis, which
included victories against Michaela Pastikova, Severine Beltrame, wild card
Katerina Bondarenko and No.8 seed Evgenia Linetskaya to reach her second
straight championship match at The Racquet Club of Memphis.
Shaughnessy was appearing in her seventh career Tour final and first since
winning in Canberra in 2003. She falls to 3-4 in career singles finals,
including 0-2 in the United States (lost at Scottsdale in 2001).
The 25-year-old American did not drop a set before facing Zvonareva in the
final. She posted straight sets victories against Laura Granville, Hana
Sromova, Yoon Jeong Cho and No.7 seed Nicole Vaidisova.
Though she wasn't able to close out the tournament with a title, Shaughnessy
is hoping the momentum that helped push her through to the final can carry on
after she leaves Memphis.
"It was a good week and I played a lot of good matches, but unfortunately,
I couldn't do it today," Shaughnessy said. "Hopefully I'll be able to take
this experience through the rest of the hardcourt season."
In doubles, the qualifying team of Miho Saeki and Yuka Yoshida won their
first doubles titles in nine years by defeating No.3 seeds Laura Granville
and Abigail Spears in the final, 63 64.
Prior to the win at Memphis, neither player had captured a doubles title
since 1996. They teamed together to win Pattaya City that year, and Saeki had
also won doubles at Beijing (w/Kijimuta) that same year. Saeki now has four
career doubles titles, while Yoshida has three.
Granville and Spears were playing in their first final together as a team.
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