Nadia Petrova rounds off the 2012 season with three titles – Tennis News
Former world number three, Nadia Petrova, rounds off the 2012 season with a fantastic victory at the Qatar Airways Tournament of Champions in Sofia. She defeated the Chinese tennis ace Jie Zheng in the opening Round Robin match;
came back the next day to beat her long-time doubles partner Maria Kirilenko. She outmuscled the local number one, Tsvetana Pironkova, in the final Round Robin match and clinched a fantastic victory from a set down state against the 29-year-old Italian tennis
ace, Roberta Vinci, in the semi-final. In the final, she was up against the likes of the top seeded Dane, Caroline Wozniacki, who was also unbeaten throughout the contest. The 30-year-old Russian held her nerve and used her experience to beat the 11th
ranked Dane in straight sets and won the third title of the season.
In a post-match press conference, Petrova said, “After my match against Vinci last night I didn't think I'd have enough time to recover, but I did all the right things and woke up feeling good. I knew this was the last one and
that I just had to give everything I had left.
She further added, “I had some long matches before this, so I had to keep this one to two sets. I didn't really have so much left in my tank, so I had to play smart and keep the points short. Caroline's a great mover and so consistent,
so I mixed it up and kept her guessing so that she didn't know what was coming from my side.”
Petrova who is the former world number three is looking to have another shot to the top ranks as she progresses. She is ranked number 12 in the world after her victory at Sofia; displacing the former world number one, Ana Ivanovic.
It has been a terrific breakthrough season for the Russian veteran starlet who has seen glory not only in singles but in doubles category as well along with her compatriot Maria Kirilenko.
A sloppy start with just 15 wins in the 11 tournaments yielded nothing at all for the Russian. However at the end of the US Open, Petrova picked up momentum and clinched the UNICEF Open title at’s-Hertogenbosch. She was the eighth
seed player and still managed to outmuscle few talented superstar including the Slovak third seed Dominika Cibulkova. Two wins in Wimbledon Championships coupled with a semi-final exit at the Mercury Insurance Open at Carlsbad helped the Russian to gather
few points. The march towards the Top-20 continued and the majestic victory at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo helped her to accomplish the goal. The title at Sofia placed the cherry at the top of a fantastic season to cover it up in the most fascinating
manner.
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