Fifteen-year-old Czech Nicole Vaidisova won the second WTA Tour title of her young career on Sunday when she beat Virginie Razzano 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan.
It was not her best performance of the tournament but Vaidisova again showed reserves of courage and mental strength to overcome the loss of the first set and overpower her crafty French opponent in just over two hours.
"It was a tough match. I was a bit nervous, felt stiff, in the beginning. I wasn't moving well," said a smiling Vaidisova after the victory.
"She played very well, moved and served well at points, but in the end I overpowered her."
Razzano was disappointed but accepted that she had given her best and lost to a better player on the day.
"I played my game and I tried to win every point but she is tough. I moved her around in the first set but she keeps hitting the lines all the time.
"She had good concentration and she was very strong mentally.
The win was worth USD 22,000 to Vaidisova. It was the second WTA Tour title for her, following her success in Vancouver in August. Razzano earned USD 12,000 for her best-ever performance in a WTA Tour event.
Even though she was the lower-ranked player, 103, Vaidisova started as the pre-match favourite against No. 80 Razzano. She definitely was the favourite of the packed stadium court at the Tashkent Tennis Centre and they displayed that by cheering loudly every time she won a point.
Most people, in fact, expected a one-sided final but Razzano proved them wrong with a clever display in the first set, varying the pace of her shots and moving Vaidisova from corner to corner. Often Vaidisova overhit the ball and made unforced errors.
"She played smartly," admitted Vaidisova later, "but I wasn't moving well either."
Razzano had a break in the third game but was broken while serving for the set in the 10th. But Vaidisova did not have her usual rhythm while serving and dropped her serve the next game. She fought back from 40-0 to make it deuce, saving three set[points, when Razzano served again but couldn't prevent the Frenchwoman from winning the next two points.
Vaidisova started the second set more consistently but was frustrated in her attempts to break Razzano, who had the knack of pulling aces out of the hat at deuce. Vaidisova finally got a break in the eighth game and then served powerfully in the next, winning it at love, with an ace, to take the set.
"I let the first set slip away and felt frustrated," said Vaidisova. "But I forgot about it and started all over again."
The confidence was back in her game now. She broke Razzano at love in the first game of the third set and again in the fifth to go 4-1 up.
Razzano called for a trainer at that point, she felt a spasm in her back she said later, and Vaidisova may have just cooled a little bit then as she needed two deuces before winning the next game.
There was some more signs of nerves when the young Czech served for the match. But that was to be expected. She double-faulted at 30-all to go break point down and then, after saving that, faced another when Razzano hit a forehand down the line.
But Vaidisova cranked up the pace again with a couple of hot serves and then finished the match when Razzano sent a forehand long.
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