Recap/Quotes (07/20/08)

WOZNIAK WINS BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC TITLE, BLACK AND HUBER DOUBLES CHAMPIONS

STANFORD, Calif. (www.BankOfTheWestClassic.com) – Aleksandra Wozniak upset sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli 7-5, 6-3 on Sunday afternoon in front of 3084 fans to capture her first career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles championship, completing an unbelievable nine-day stretch that began in the qualifying round and included a victory over eight-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams.

Playing her eighth match in nine days, Wozniak is the first qualifier to win the singles title at the Bank of the West Classic since the inception of computer rankings in 1982 and only the third qualifier to win a tournament this year. The 20-year-old Canadian entered the tourney ranked No. 85 in the world and had to win three qualifying matches and four contests in the main draw just to reach Sunday’s final.

“It feels great,” said Wozniak, the first Canadian to win a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title in 20 years. “It’s my first title on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and I’m really excited and proud of what I have accomplished here advancing through the qualifying round. Playing eight matches in one week is never easy…I focused so hard this week on winning one match at a time. I believe in myself but I never thought I would win this tournament.”

Her victims along the way included three seeded players (No. 6 Bartoli, No. 1 Williams and No. 8 Francesca Schiavone) and two victories over fellow qualifier Samantha Stosur in a scheduling rarity that saw the two players meet in the qualifying round and again in the quarterfinals.

Against Bartoli on Sunday, Wozniak dictated play with 33 winners and continued to keep the 2007 Wimbledon finalist off balance throughout the match. Bartoli, who looked out of sync and eventually called for a medical timeout early in the second set, managed to finish the match but came up short in her quest for her first singles title since 2006.

After alternating games in the first set, Bartoli finally took control at 4-3. She then led 5-4 before Wozniak stormed back to win three straight games and close out the first set 7-5.

Tied at 1-1 in the second set, Wozniak looked dominating as she ripped off three straight games to take a commanding 4-1 advantage. Bartoli closed to within 5-3 before Wozniak served out for the match and the championship.

Bartoli had put together a strong run of her own in the tournament, reaching her first final of the year with wins over defending Bank of the West Classic champion Anna Chakvetadze and tour veteran Ai Sugiyama.

“It’s hard to retire during the final of tournament,” said Bartoli. “I just wanted to give the fans a complete match and even if I knew I was unable to win it, it was just better for everyone to try and keep going to the end.”

The world’s top-ranked duo of Cara Black and Liezel Huber posted a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva to capture the doubles crown at the 2008 Bank of the West Classic on Sunday afternoon at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.

Black and Huber picked up their sixth championship this year and 18th overall.

Black and Huber coasted past their first two opponents by allowing only 14 games overall. Yesterday, they outlasted Tatiana Poutchek and Anastasia Rodionova 4-6, 6-3, (10-7). On Sunday in the final, they grabbed early leads in both sets en route to the straight-set victory.

In the first set, Black and Huber jumped out to a 3-0 lead, maintained a 5-2 edge and broke serve for a 6-4 victory. In the second set, Black and Huber went ahead 4-0 before eventually winning the match on the strength of Black’s serve.

“We are very excited,” said Black. “We came here with a goal this week of winning the tournament. It’s awesome when you meet your goal so we are very pleased with the outcome…I think we were definitely more rested and we were just the better team on the day. We did all the right things and knew what we had to do and went out there and executed.”

Quotes

Cara Black

On winning the tournament…

“We are very excited. We came here with a goal this week of winning the tournament. It’s awesome when you meet your goal so we are very pleased with the outcome.”

 On the overall strategy of who plays back and who plays front…

“Liezel is the big hitter from the back and she then sets the ball up for me at the net to try and poach whenever I can.”

 Coming off back-to-back victories that were won in super-tiebreakers…

“I think we were fortunate to get the good scheduling yesterday, playing in the day rather than the night. I think it was pretty rough for them last night, having to play the second match after 7 p.m. and the early turnaround this morning. I think we were definitely more rested and we were just the better team on the day. We did all the right things and knew what we had to do and went out there and executed.”

 

Liezel Huber

Commenting on the super-tiebreaker …

“Last year I think we played 21 and I think we won 19. So it’s definitely in our favor. We try to start the tiebreak strong and if we don’t, then we just work our way back in it. That’s kind of what happened the other night- we started strong. We do find that we play a lot more three-set matches, if you will. We split a lot more sets just because of the deciding point of the game…We don’t panic when it gets down to it. Today we were pretty consistent throughout the match.”

 Looking ahead to the fall season…

“We were unlucky at the French and we were unlucky at Wimbledon. We didn’t have a very good match at Wimbledon and I think we will learn from that. But the Slams are what you play for and it will be disappointing if we don’t bring our big game or put our best foot forward for the U.S. Open. That’s basically our next goal. We’ve achieved the goal of being the number one team and I think it’s pretty much wrapped up for the year. So check that box and now it’s the U.S. Open.”

 

Aleksandra Wozniak

On winning her first career title…

“It feels great. It’s my first title on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and I’m really excited and proud of what I have accomplished here advancing through the qualifying round. Playing eight matches in one week is never easy.”

 On her final two opponents battling injury…

“I stay focused and really wanted to win. I don’t know what’s happening; I guess I make them run too much or something. Yesterday Serena pulled out and today Marion was hurt. I don’t know. I just keep playing aggressive and doing what I needed to do to win.”


Her strategy coming back down 5-4 in the first set…

“I doubled up my speed on the court with my groundstrokes, stayed more aggressive and kept going through after it. I was down 5-4 and she was serving so it was very important for me to break her.”

 On her lack of celebration following the win…

“I think I still didn’t feel it. I was still in my bubble. It’s my first title and I’m usually a person who doesn’t show much emotion on the court. I just tried to stay calm and after the tournament is over, I can feel it.”

 On whether or not she felt tired today…

“Today I felt good. Before the match, I didn’t feel the tightness from the whole week. I was really excited and wanted to go out there, do my best and not think about how tired I was.”

 On if she thought she could win the tournament…

“I focused so hard this week on winning one match at a time. I believe in myself but I never thought I would win this tournament.”

Marion Bartoli

On when she started to feel discomfort…

“This morning when I was warming up, I felt a little pain inside but it was not that bad. When I started the match, it began to hurt. During the whole first set, I just tried to forget about the pain and just stay focused. But my legs were moving so slowly and I was unable to hit the ball as I was in my past matches. I think I hurt it even more in the first set. It started to get really bad in the second and I was going through a lot of pain but I just wanted to finish the match.”

 On if she considered retiring from the match…

“It’s hard to retire during the final of tournament. I just wanted to give the fans a complete match and even if I knew I was unable to win it, it was just better for everyone to try and keep going to the end.”

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Wozniak trophy

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Qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak completed her improbable run through the Bank of the West Classic by winning her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title with a 7-5, 6-3 win over sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli Sunday afternoon in front of 3,084 fans at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium on the Stanford University campus...Read more

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The No. 1 doubles team in the world, Cara Black and Liezel Huber defeated the Russian duo of Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-3 to capture their first Bank of the West title as team...Read more