Finally Maria did it!
After losing the final last year in Pattaya, the Russian didn’t miss this opportunity once again. It seems the match was slipping away from her when Lisicki won the first set 7-5. Time for Maria to fight back and win a comfortable 2nd set 6-1.
The difference between the two players in the second set was so clear that everybody was expecting a smooth third set for the Russian, but Sabine regrouped to put up a fight. Finally, after exchanging a couple of breaks the decider went to the tiebreak that was dominated by Kirilenko. The match ended after 2 hours and 37 minutes
This is Maria’s six career title after winning Estoril, Barcelona, Seoul in 2008, Kolkata in 2007 and Beijing in 2005.
Well done!
