One year ago she made quite the first impression in Warsaw, qualifying for her very first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour main draw then going all the way to the title. She went quiet for a while but this year's clay court season brought back that fire, and Alexandra Dulgheru has repeated her Cinderella run, winning her second career title at the Polsat Warsaw Open.
Last year, a 20-year-old Dulgheru came into Warsaw ranked No.201 in the world and surprised everyone, beating Alona Bondarenko to become just the fifth player in Tour history to win a title while ranked outside the Top 200 - and first to do it at a Premier-level tournament.
With a pair of Top 10 wins on clay this year, over Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva, and coming in ranked No.32, Dulgheru was not the longshot she was last year. But winning back-to-back titles at a Premier stop is quite the feat, and she was unseeded, too. She beat No.7 seed Kateryna Bondarenko in the first round then beat China's Top 2 in the last two rounds, first edging No.3 seed Na Li in the semis, 64 36 64, and No.5 seed Jie Zheng in the final, 63 64.
Alexandra, tu esti viitorul tenisului romanesc! Succes la Roland Garros! / Alexandra, you're the future of the Romanian tennis! Good luck at Roland Garros!
Niciun comentariu:
Trimiteți un comentariu