Barthel outhits Errani in Paris
Mona Barthel saw off Sara Errani 7-5, 7-6(4) to win Open GDF SUEZ in Paris for her biggest career title.
The big hitting German upended seeds Roberta Vinci and Marion Bartoli en route to the final and then impressed against top seed Errani in the final.
Errani came from 3-5 down to level the opener only to see Barthel close it out at the second attempt.
In the second Errani battled from 2-5 down and then staved off three match points before Barthel blasted a forehand down the line on her fourth match point to earn her 2nd WTA singles title.
Barthel was a finalist in Hobart before the Australian Open. Read about Barthel’s final appearance in Hobart here
Stat Attack – Barthel
- Before defeating Bartoli and Errani in Paris; Barthel had one career top 10 win over Bartoli in Stuttgart in 2012
- The German this week vaults up 17 places to a new career high ranking of 28
Stat Attack – Errani
- The Italian has appeared in 11 WTA singles finals but this was only her fourth on hard courts, seven have come on clay
Kirilenko wins Pattaya City rollercoaster
Maria Kirilenko edged out Sabine Lisicki 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(1) to claim the PTT Pattaya Open title.
In a match full of momentum swings Lisicki held points to go up a break after taking a tight opener before 2nd seeded Kirilenko took charge to level and open a 5-2 advantage in the decider.
Lisicki fended off two match points in the eighth game and the German battled back to take a 6-5 advantage and serve for the match.
The final roll of the dice was Kirilenko’s as she broke to love and swept through the tie-break to seal her 6th career singles title after two hours and 37 minutes.
Stat Attack – Kirilenko
- The Russian snapped a drought of 99 tournaments since her last victory at Seoul in September 2008
- Kirilenko has been on tour for over a decade after making her debut as a 15 year-old wildcard at Bali in 2002
Stat Attack – Lisicki
- Lisicki’s only victory over a top 15 player since July 2011 was her upset of top ranked Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon last year
Record breaking doubles highlights Davis Cup action
The 2013 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group got underway with a record breaking doubles rubber between reigning champions Czech Republic and Switzerland taking a large share of the headlines.
In the longest ever Davis Cup rubber, and second longest recorded tennis match, Tomas Berdych and Lukas Rosol overcame Stanislas Wawrinka and Marco Chiudinelli 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7(3), 24-22 after a marathon seven hours and two minutes.
In an unbelievable contest – comprising 589 points - the Swiss saved twelve match points before Chiudinelli double faulted on the 13th. The Czech team went onto win the tie in Geneva 3-2.
The Czech team will next face Kazakhstan who saw off Austria 3-1 at Astana while France and Argentina setup a quarter final clash with 5-0 victories over Israel and Germany respectively.
Without Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer or Nicolas Almagro five-time champions Spain fell 3-2 to Canada in Vancouver and the Canadians next face Italy who edged out Croatia 3-2 in Turin.
Serbia and the USA will meet in the quarter finals after securing 3-2 wins over Belgium and Brazil.
At home in Jacksonville the Americans lost a 2-0 lead as the Bryan Brothers were shocked in five sets by Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares but saw Sam Querrey win the deciding rubber in four sets over Thiago Alves.
World No.1 Novak Djokovic was the only top five player in action over the weekend as the Australian Open champion comfortably defeated Oliver Rochus as the Serbs took the first three rubbers against the Belgians in Charleroi.