Golovin Earns First Career Title At Amelia Island
Golovin Earns First Career Title At Amelia Island
April 8, 2007
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=1252
AMELIA ISLAND, FL, USA - It was fourth time lucky for one of women's
tennis' most promising future stars on Sunday afternoon, as Tatiana
Golovin captured her career-first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title
at the Bausch & Lomb Championships, held on the green clay of the Amelia
Island Plantation.
Seeded No.8 and playing in just her second career tournament on the green
clay surface, Golovin winning her first title this past week seemed like
something of a long shot at the start; but after winning her early rounds
she only got better, cruising past Venus Williams in the quarterfinals,
defying an 0-5 head-to-head against Ana Ivanovic in the semis and, in
the final, crushing top seed and defending champion Nadia Petrova easily
in straight sets, 62 61.
"It all happened so fast," said Golovin, who missed last year's tournament
with a left ankle sprain suffered in Miami. "Last year I was sitting in my
room with my cast on, watching Petrova in the semis or finals, wishing I
was here. It's definitely emotional for me to be here a year later in the
final, winning the tournament."
The one-hour, 16-minute rout was her most impressive performance; despite
the fact she had won four of their five previous encounters, she hadn't
won any of her three previous Tour finals, including against the Russian
in Stuttgart last fall. This time, the French teenager said she had more
belief in herself.
"Beating Venus and Ivanovic, and especially Ivanovic because I'd never
beaten her before, gave me confidence. Today I knew I could beat Petrova.
I knew I had the weapons and I told myself to stay aggressive and use my
forehand; it put a lot of pressure on her. When the last games came, I
didn't get scared.
"Today was different from my other finals because I went out there feeling
I was ready to win my first title, that I worked hard for it and deserved
it."
"It wasn't a really nice match for me today; I just wasn't sharp enough,"
said Petrova, who was trying to defend a title for the very first time.
"I was just a split second late to get to the balls and didn't have my
concentration. She played solid, though; she doesn't have weaknesses.
It's about time she won her first title!"
Golovin, who has been hovering just inside the Top 20 for most of this
season, notched her eighth Top 10 victory; three of those eight are over
Petrova, the first two coming last year at Paris [Indoors] and the US
Open. Their first encounter came at Charleston two years ago, which was
also Golovin's first event on green clay; there, she reached the semis
with wins over Williams and the Russian.
The last time Petrova won so few games in a match came almost two years
ago, with a 62 61 loss to Sania Mirza at San Diego. Sunday's loss snapped
her 14-match win streak on green clay, which included titles here and at
Charleston last year and her four wins en route to the 2007 Amelia Island
final.
In a tournament full with upsets, Petrova was the lone Top 4 seed to reach
her alotted semifinal berth. No.4-seeded Patty Schnyder was the first to
go, ousted by Williams in the second round; No.2 Jelena Jankovic and No.3
Daniela Hantuchova were taken down by No.6 Ivanovic and No.13 Sybille
Bammer in the quarters.
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