Safina ends Errani’s reign in Slovenia

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 11:39

Dinara Safina’s 12th title victory ended Sara Errani’s unbeaten record at the Slovenia Open, but not before the Italian capitalised on an erratic performance early on from the world No.1.

In a match that lasted just under three hours, the Russian recovered after losing the first set to beat the defending champion 6-7(5) 6-1 7-5.

The Italian, who had lost only eight games en route to the final, won 77% of points on her first serve as Safina struggled to find any rhythm.

“You [Errani] were a hard time for me, but I really wanted to win this tournament”

Nine double faults and a 62% first serve rate did not stop the world No.1 applying enough pressure on Errani’s second serve to break 11 times and racing through the second set.

But, despite a thigh injury, the 22-year-old stepped up her game again to pressure the Russian in the third set, pulling back to 5-4 before Safina sealed victory.

“You were a hard time for me but I really wanted to win this tournament,” Safina told Errani in the trophy presentation afterwards.

Elsewhere, Andrea Petkovic lifted her first career title by beating Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-2 6-3 at Bad Gastein.

The world No.98 German has won eight titles on the ITF circuit, but had never reached a WTA quarter-final before.

Romania’s Olaru was also playing in her first career WTA final, and it was Petkovic who raced into a 5-0 lead before winning the opening set. One break in the second was enough to wrap up the victory, sealed on her first match point.

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