Kuznetsova claims Wismilak title

Kuznetsova claims Wismilak title

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Nusa Dua, Bali

Second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova claimed the singles title at the
US$225,000 Wismilak International Tennis tournament after
overpowering unseeded Marlene Weingartner of Germany 6-1, 6-4 in
the final, while the top seeded pair, Anastasia Myskina/Ai
Sugiyama won the doubles on Sunday.

Kuznetsova, fresh from her victory at the US Open a week ago,
won the 2002 title but skipped last year's event, leaving the
crown to another Russian, Elena Dementieva.

"It was tough to go all the way through after coming from the
US Open. I was just doing my best and didn't want to lose," she
told a post-match press conference. "I knew I could win this
after I won the US Open."

World's number six Kuznetsova showed her superiority over
world number 67 Weingartner by hammering her with her fierce
backhand and put her under pressure as the 24-year-old German
struggled to return difficult shots.

"Today, the key was just to stay in the match. I definitely
didn't play my best. I played well in the first set, but Marlene
couldn't find anything to play against me," she said.

"In the second set, she played better. She ran much more but I
was still making her run to see if she could handle it," she
added.

Weingartner said she was disappointed with the result because
it was her first career WTA final.

"Of course, I'm disappointed since I thought I had my chance
to win the second set, but I should take the positive things out
of it, like having a new experience with the situation and the
crowd, so next time when I get into another final I will know
what to do," she said.

"Kuznetsova always plays consistently and she's very powerful.
She hit hard shots throughout the match and she put a lot of
pressure on me. You have to be really fast to counterattack her
shots and my legs were tired, so I could not return all her shots
during the game.

"I need some time to get into the game like the previous
matches, that's why I didn't do well in the first set," she
added.

Since the quarterfinals, Weingartner always needed three sets
to win a match. She won 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 over Choo Yoon-jeong of
South Korea in the quarterfinals and won 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 over Maria
Elena Camerin of Italy in the semifinals.

In the doubles, top seeds Myskina of Russia and Sugiyama of
Japan, both had exited the singles matches in the early rounds,
but went ahead to win the doubles title after defeating unseeded
Kuznetsova and Spanish old hand Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, 6-3, 7-
5.

Myskina and Sugiyama played better during the game since they
both had a proper two-day rest before the final match. They did
not play in the semifinal match since their opponents Gisela
Dulko of Argentina and Venezuelan Milagros Sequera forfeited due
to Sequera's injury.

Talking about the match, Myskina said that it had been a fun
final for her and Sugiyama. She admitted that Kuznetsova and
Sanchez-Vicario had been playing really well during the game.

"I feel great in winning the doubles, at least I won a title
here, especially since this is my first time playing with
Sugiyama," Myskina said.

"Maybe, we're going to play again together in the coming
tournaments, since we were playing so good together and this is
our first title."