Nicolas Almagro, Francesca Schiavone and Agnieszka Radwanska win titles – Tennis News
Combining ATP World Tour and WTA Tour, three tournaments were held a week prior to the start of the second Grand Slam of the season, the French Open.
Spain’s Nicolas Almagro, Francesca Schiavone of Italy and Polish player, Agnieszka Radwanska, grabbed titles at the Open de Nice Côte d'Azur, Internationaux de Strasbourg and Brussels Open respectively to give warning to their
rivals.
Almagro, who was seeded third in the draw, proved that he is one of the top clay courters on the ATP World Tour, as he defeated Brian Baker of USA in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 in the Open de Nice Côte d'Azur final in France.
The Spaniard won this tournament in the presence of USA’s John Isner and Gilles Simon of France, who are ranked higher than him in the ATP Singles Rankings.
Isner was beaten by Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko in the quarter-finals and Baker ousted the Russian in the semi-finals. On the other hand, Simon was toppled by Almagro himself in the last four.
Speaking to the media after the final, Almagro said, “Today was amazing. I am happy with my form, my tennis and my team. We will aim to keep working hard, so I play, in future, as I did today."
At one of the two events on the WTA Tour, Radwanska routed Simona Halep in straight sets 7-5, 6-0 in the Brussels Open final.
The Polish star faced severe competition in the first set, as Halep served for it at 5-4 but the top player grabbed nine successive games after that to complete the win.
The third ranked player is now the leading player in the race of most match wins in this season, being victorious for the 36th time in 2012.
Radwanska said, after the match, "On clay I think I need longer to warm up, not just the five minutes before the match. I'm happy to get some good preparation in ahead of the French Open."
2012 French Open champion, Schiavone, regained her confidence by winning her first title in the last two years. The Italian downed Alize Cornet of France in twin sets 6-4, 6-4 to win the Internationaux de Strasbourg.
Schiavone shared, "In this tournament, in the most important moments, I was there. It has been a long time since I've felt that. It's a great feeling and I want to keep going this way. I'm happy again.”
Meanwhile, Serbia defeated Czech Republic in the final to capture the Power Horse World Team Cup in Dusseldorf.
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