Sugiyama battles to take the title
SYDNEY, Australia -- Japan's Ai Sugiyama battled from a set down to beat Russia's Nadia Petrova 1-6 6-1 6-4 on Saturday.
She become the first player to win a second Australian women's hardcourt tennis championship.
Top-seeded Sugiyama, who also beat Petrova in the final at Linz last October, looked to be in all sorts of trouble after dropping the first set.
But the lightly-built world number 10 regained her composure to run away with the final two sets and capture her sixth career title while denying the hard-hitting Russian her first.
Seeded second, the 21-year-old Petrova's hopes of winning evaporated when she strained a thigh late in the second set.
She received treatment for about an hour after the match then announced she was pulling out of next week's Canberra Classic, where she was the top seed.
"I just kept my concentration. I don't know how it happened but I am so happy," said Sugiyama, who also won the event in 1998.
Daniilidou keeps her crown
Defending champion Eleni Daniilidou successfully defended her Auckland Classic women's title, cruising to a surprisingly comfortable 6-3 6-2 win over U.S. prodigy Ashley Harkleroad.
The 21-year-old Greek was in control from the start, dominating from the baseline with a classy peformance.
Rain interruptions early in the tournament forced the players to double their workload as the week wore on and Daniilidou was in no mood for a three-set final.
Playing aggressive tennis, she raced through the opening set and broke Harkleroad's serve in the first game of the second.
Although the young American broke back immediately, the effort told in her first WTA final. She lost the next two games and could not stage a recovery.
