Dominant Williams wins Brisbane
Serena Williams won her 47th career singles title by dismissing Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-1 to win the Brisbane International.
The unseeded Russian stayed with Williams for the first four games before the World No.3 stepped up a gear and powered through seven straight games to take command.
The Wimbledon, US Open and Olympic champion broke again in the sixth game of the second set and sealed victory after just 51 minutes with an angled backhand winner crosscourt.
Stat Attack – Williams
- It is the first time in Williams’ career that the American has won a warm-up tournament during the Australian hard court season – she was a finalist at Sydney in 2010
- With the victory the American moves to within 295 ranking points of World No.2 Maria Sharapova and 845 points behind World No.1 Victoria Azarenka
Stat Attack – Pavlyuchenkova
- The Russian now holds a 3-2 record in WTA singles finals and moves up 12 places in this week’s WTA rankings
Murray retains Brisbane crown
US Open and Olympic champion Andy Murray successfully defended his Brisbane International title with a 7-6(0), 6-4 victory over rising star Grigor Dimitrov.
The unseeded Bulgarian, in his first ATP singles final, got off to the better start and broke when Murray netted a smash in the second game. Dimitrov opened a 5-2 lead before the top seeded Briton fought back.
The British No.1 saved a set point at 5-6 before sweeping through the subsequent tie-break without the loss of a point.
Murray came from a break down in the second set to complete a straight sets win for his 25th ATP World Tour singles title.
Stat Attack – Murray
- With 25 career singles titles Murray draws level with Jose-Luis Clerc and Brian Gottfried at No.28 in the Open Era
- It is the sixth time that Murray has defended a singles title on the ATP World Tour
Stat Attack – Dimitrov
- 21 year-old Dimitrov had lost his previous three ATP World Tour semi-finals and moves up to a new career high ranking of 41st this week
Gasquet battles to Doha victory
Richard Gasquet won the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha with a determined fight back in the final to see off Nikolay Davydenko 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3.
Former World No.3 Davydenko had upset World No.5 David Ferrer in the semi-finals and reproduced that form in the final to open up a 6-3, 4-2 lead. When the 31 year-old Russian held two further break points in the seventh game he appeared on the verge of victory.
However Gasquet crucially held and broke back in the eighth game. The set went to a tie-break which Gasquet took with an emphatic smash to level the match.
The second seeded Frenchman broke twice in the decider clinching the win after two and a half hours when Davydenko netted a final backhand.
Stat Attack – Gasquet
- The Frenchman now holds an 8-10 record in career singles finals
- Gasquet won his 300th career singles match with his second round win over Grega Zemlja the second round in Doha
Stat Attack – Davydenko
- The Russian was appearing in his first final since winning Munich in May 2011; 2012 was his first season without winning a title since 2002
Radwanska victorious in Auckland
Agnieszka Radwanska was victorious at the ASB Classic in Auckland after a 6-4, 6-4 win over Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 6-4
The top seeded World No.4 did not drop a set all week and, despite dropping serve once in each set in the final, saw off her Belgian opponent in straight sets to take her 11th WTA singles crown.
Stat Attack – Radwanska
- Eight of Radwanska’s career singles titles have come on hard courts
- The Polish No.1 has three times been an Australian Open quarter finalist – 2008, 2011, 2012
Stat Attack – Wickmayer
- The Belgian has finished the last four seasons ranked in the top 30 and moves back into the top 20 this week courtesy of her run in Auckland
Li triumphant on home soil in Shenzhen
Li Na claimed the inaugural Shenzhen Longgang Gemdale Open title with a battling 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 victory over Klara Zakopalova.
Having split the first two sets World No.7 Li opened a 5-2 lead in the decider. However Zakopalova fought back to level proceedings at 5-5 before the Chinese No.1 took the final two games to take her seventh WTA title after two hours and four minutes.
Stat Attack – Li
- It is Li’s second WTA singles title in China after she lifted her first career title at Guangzhou in 2004
- Li won just one more point than Zakopalova in the final – 89 to 88
Stat Attack – Zakopalova
- The 30 year-old this week reaches a new career high ranking of 23rd after reaching her 12th WTA singles final
Tipsarevic goes one better in Chennai
2012 finalist Janko Tipsarevic went one better at the Aircel Chennai Open 2013 with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 defeat of surprise finalist Roberto Bautista Agut to take the title.
Unseeded Bautista Agut stunned top seed Tomas Berdych in the quarter finals and began his first career final by opening an early 3-0 lead en route to taking the first set.
World No.9 Tipsarevic drew on his experience to turn the match around and win his fourth ATP World Tour title after an hour and 50 minutes.
Stat Attack – Tipsarevic
- The Serbian No.2 lost his first four ATP World Tour singles finals but has since won four titles from seven finals
- Tipsarevic has been ranked in the top 10 every week since 14th November 2011
Stat Attack – Bautista Agut
- In 2012 the Spaniard only won three matches on the ATP World Tour all year – he had only reached one ATP World Tour quarter final previously (St Petersburg 2012)