Under pressure to win the inaugural event in front of an
expectant home crowd, the top-seeded Wozniacki had wobbled as she advanced to
the final, but needed just 78 minutes to claim her eighth WTA Tour title in
straight sets at the Farum Arena.
Zakopalova had beaten the second-seeded Li Na of China in
the semifinals of the indoor hard court tournament, but was unable to upset
Wozniacki, who broke twice and held serve to take the first set comfortably.
Seventh-seeded Zakopalova did manage to break Wozniacki with
the scores at 2-2 in the second, but the No. 3-ranked player fought back to
take the set to a tie-breaker.
Wozniacki had five match points before finally closing out
the match, to the delight of the crowd.
It was only the second time that the pair had faced each
other. Wozniacki won the first meeting in three sets at the Japan Open in 2007.
Victory at the $220,000 tournament gives Wozniacki her
second title of the year. In May, she also won the Ponte Vedra Beach event.
Baghdatis, Nalbandian in title clash
In Washington, Marcos Baghdatis and former Wimbledon
finalist David Nalbandian will vie for the Washington Classic championship
after winning their semifinals in straight sets on Saturday.
Baghdatis blended some timely serving with his tiebreak
artistry to ease past Xavier Malisse 6-2, 7-6, while Nalbandian, playing in his
first tournament since April, routed fourth seed Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-2 in 73
minutes.
Sunday’s championship will mark the first final in the
United States for both players, with eighth seed Baghdatis holding a 3-1 edge
against the unseeded Nalbandian.
“He’s a good player,” Argentine Nalbandian said of
Baghdatis. “We know each other. We have a pretty similar game from the
baseline. I have to keep believing in my game.
“I’m playing very good right now.”
Croat Cilic broke Nalbandian’s serve to open the match but
started spraying his shots and dropped the first set before many of the fans
were able to find their seats.
Nalbandian, a 2002 finalist at the All England Club who has
been sidelined for much of the year with a hamstring injury, converted five of
eight break-points to defeat Cilic for the second time in two meetings.
The difference was Nalbandian’s brilliant return of serve,
according to Cilic.
The 25th-ranked Baghdatis landed only 43 percent of his
first serves on a humid day in Washington but was broken only once and rated
his performance the “perfect game” to beat Malisse.
“It was a tough one but I played really, really smart,” the
Cypriot said. “I played the right shot at the right time.
Malisse was error-prone in the opening set, especially from
the backhand side, but the 30-year-old Belgian found his stride in the second
with his booming forehand.
“When you lose 6-2 you basically have nothing to lose and
you go for your shots a little more,” said Malisse, ranked 62nd and unseeded in
Washington.
Radwanska sets up Kuznetsova final at San Diego
In San Diego, California, Agnieszka Radwanska disposed of a
pesky Daniela Hantuchova on her eighth match point to make the final of the San
Diego Open with a 6-4, 6-2 victory on Saturday.
The 21-year-old Pole will meet two-time grand slam champion
Svetlana Kuznetsova in Sunday’s final, after the powerful Russian stormed to a
crushing 6-4, 6-0 win over Italy’s Flavia Pennetta.
Radwanska, who has been in good touch in the US hardcourt
season, darted around the court to wrong-foot her taller opponent and charged
into the net at every opportunity.
Slovak Hantuchova fought off seven match points in the
20-minute seventh game of the second set, but was bested in the following game
by a service winner.
World No. 10
Radwanska last played Kuznetsova in the final of the China Open in October
which the Russian won 6-2, 6-4 to improve her head-to-head record to 6-3
against the Pole.
Radwanska is likely to face a similar stiff test in the San
Diego final, after Kuznetsova showed glimpses of the form that delivered her
the 2009 French Open title in her semifinal.
The Russian mixed up speeds and spins to stifle the
fleet-footed Pennetta, and broke the 15th-ranked Italian five times with slick
service returns and her forehand on song.
Kuznetsova sealed the win with a cracking forehand return,
her 26th of the match.
The Russian has fallen to her lowest ranking in six years at
21 after being dumped out of Wimbledon early, but training at the Russian
seaside resort of Sochi seems to have helped her regain her touch.
