Vesnina masters the wind and Eastbourne
On a blustery day in Eastbourne Elena Vesnina conquered the Aegon International with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over American qualifier Jamie Hampton.
Vesnina, who had taken out seeds Ana Ivanovic and Li Na, survived two break points at 2-2 before breaking Hampton with a biting backhand slice in the next game.
The Russian fended off three break points to hold for 5-2 and converted her first set point when Hampton netted a backhand a game later.
Hampton was broken in a long second game in set no.2 and Vesnina pulled away to secure her second career singles title, having won in Hobart to start 2013, after an hour and 13 minutes.
Stat Attack – Vesnina
- With the victory Vesnina equals her career high ranking of 22nd and moves up to No.5 in Russia
- The Russian has twice reached the fourth round of a major – on her Grand Slam debut at the 2006 Australian Open and at Wimbledon in 2009
Stat Attack – Hampton
- The American is the first qualifier to reach a WTA singles final in 2013
Lopez finishes strongly for Eastbourne triumph
Feliciano Lopez won his first grass court title at the Aegon International by pulling away from Gilles Simon to triumph 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 6-0 in Eastbourne.
The unseeded left-hander came from a break down to take the opening set but could not convert four break points at 2-2 in the second set and Simon went on to level the match after a second tie-break.
Lopez raised his game in the decider and raced through with three breaks of serve to claim his third career singles title after two hours and 48 minutes.
Stat Attack – Lopez
- The Spaniard has reached the quarter finals at Wimbledon in 2005, 2008 and 2011 – his best performances at any Grand Slam
- The win ensures Lopez becomes the second highest ranked left-hander (at No.32) behind Nadal
Stat Attack – Simon
- Simon has finished four of the past five seasons ranked in the top 20
Mahut seals maiden title at ‘s-Hertogenbosch
Nicolas Mahut completed a hard fought week in ‘s-Hertogenbosch by defeating second seed Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-4 to win the Topshelf Open.
The 30 year-old French qualifier had only dropped one set – in the second round of qualifying – and maintained that form in his third career singles final.
After a rain delay Mahut reeled off three straight games from 3-3 to take the opener. The French Open doubles finalist broke World No.10 Wawrinka early in the second set and maintained the advantage to triumph after an hour and 23 minutes.
Stat Attack – Mahut
- Both of Mahut’s previous career singles finals have come on grass – at Newport at Queen’s Club (where he held match point against Andy Roddick) in 2007
- Ranked 240th Mahut is the lowest ranked player to win a title since 244th ranked Kei Nishikori won Delray Beach in 2008 – the Frenchman moves up to 124th this week
Stat Attack – Wawrinka
- Wawrinka has reached four finals in a season for the first time this year
Red hot Halep makes slick grass court transition
Simon Halep defeated Kirsten Flipkens 6-4, 6-2 to win the Topshelf Open for her 10th straight victory.
The unseeded Romanian, champion on clay in Nürnberg last week, crushed top seed Roberta Vinci 6-0, 6-1 in the second round and ended the week with straight sets wins over three of the top four win.
In a rain interrupted final Halep jumped out to a 3-0 lead in both sets and never allowed the Belgian to lead as she extended her head to head advantage over Flipkens to 3-0.
Stat Attack – Halep
- Halep has 16 of her last 18 matches since Rome having only won eight matches heading to the Italian capital
- The Romanian vaults up to a new career high ranking of 32nd this week
Stat Attack – Flipkens
- The Belgian was junior Wimbledon singles champion a decade ago