2010 WTA Doubles Tournament; Flavia Pennetta and Gisela Dulko grab title in Doha
Flavia Pennetta and Gisela Dulko capped a dream week after dispatching off Katarina Srebotnik and Kveta Peschke in the final of the 2010 WTA Doubles Tournament in Doha on Sunday. The final score line was 7-5, 6-4.
Pennetta and Dulko, already champions of six crowns in 2010 and the top seeds at the prestigious year ending WTA Tournament, faced set point at 4-5 in the opening set, however, Pennetta conjured up a powerful first serve that drew a forehand return error
from Peschke. She along with Flavia then went on an eight point tear, taking the next two games at love to tuck away the opening set on Sunday.
The final set stayed on serve until the fifth, sixth and seventh games, all of which were breaks with Srebotnik, Pennetta and Kveta all losing serve. However, Gisela never did, leaving the top seed up a break the rest of the match as Flavia served it out,
establishing a lead of 40-0 and winning it on the second match point.
"It feels amazing. When we started playing together this year, we never thought we would end the year like this. We are very proud of the hard work we have put in. And to share this with Flavia is very special as we started playing doubles because we are
best friends, and the happiness is double,” reflected Dulko after her victory on Sunday.
Pennetta, on the other hand declared, "We just started playing together because we are friends and love to play together and we never thought we would end up in this position. To have the chance to play a sport with one of your best friends is the nicest
thing in the world. We are really happy and proud. We cannot believe it yet."
Both of them were playing in their first career finals at the WTA Tournaments, together as well as individually. They secured their year-end number one doubles ranking on Saturday and to add that Flavia has also improved her doubles ranking to number one
on the tour. As a result, she has registered her name as the second player from South America to accomplish that feat after Paola Suarez.
The second seed duo of Srebotnik and Peschke, on the other hand, who captured crowns this season at Indian Wells and New Haven had both contested in the WTA Tournament on a number of occasions before in their career. This was Peschke's fourth appearance
after posting her best run as a finalist back in 2008 along with her partner Rennae Stubbs whereas Srebotnik was playing for the fifth time with her best result coming back in 2007 when she also ended up as a runner up, teaming up with Ai Sugiyama.
Srebotnik when asked about her loss on Sunday said that they are still happy as they made it into the finals in Doha and appreciated the superior quality of play of their opponents.
In the singles action in Doha, the professional tennis player from Belgium, Kim Clijsters got the better of world number one and top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the final of the 2010 WTA Tournament single’s event on Sunday. The final score line was 6-3, 5-7,
6-3.
Clijsters, as a result of this victory captured her third career crown at the season ending elite eight women field in Doha. The title came as her fifth one on the year. The Belgian previously triumphed in Miami, Brisbane, Cincinnati and the United States
Open in New York. She is second to Caroline in title victories as the Dane won six in 2010.
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