BUDAPEST, Hungary - Agnes Szavay made a triumphant return to the winner's circle in front of her home crowd on Sunday, beating Patty Schnyder in a see-saw three-setter to win the GDF SUEZ Grand Prix title in Budapest.
Though she was seeded No.4, Szavay barely made it past Tathiana Garbin in the second round, as the Italian veteran - a former winner here, in 2000 - served for the match at 5-4 in the third set. But the 20-year-old survived to win, 76(2) 57 75, and had few other problems en route to the final, where the No.1 seed, Schnyder, was hungry for her own return to the winner's circle.
"My match with Tathiana was really tough. It was a great fight - at the end I was just fighting like a tiger, that was the difference, I think," Szavay said. "It wasn't about the tennis in that match. I was so close to losing."
Szavay's big serve and powerful groundstrokes didn't work so well in the first set, as the 30-year-old Schnyder had no trouble outrallying her and taking a one set lead, 6-2. But the tides turned as Szavay began finding her range, and the home crowd favorite eventually prevailed, 26 64 62, for the third Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title of her career, and the first since September 2007.
"In the first set I wasn't playing so well. I was so nervous and tight, and I couldn't play my game," Szavay said on the final. "But then I called my coach to the court and he made me laugh. I relaxed and started to play much better.
"It feels great to win here. The crowd was supporting me the whole week. It was a lot of pressure, but on the other hand, they were supporting me so much even when I wasn't playing so well. I won my last title a long time ago so this win feels great, especially because it's in Hungary. I played so badly here last year and didn't expect to win this year, so I'm really happy with what happened."
Szavay reached her first four career finals within an eight-month span between July 2007 and February 2008, winning at Palermo and Beijing and finishing runner-up at New Haven and Paris [Indoors]. She rose as high as No.13 in the world shortly after those results and fell out of the Top 30 earlier this year but is now working her way back into the elite after a recent return to form, including Top 10 wins over Ana Ivanovic, Victoria Azarenka and Venus Williams.
"My goal is to get back into the Top 20 this year, if possible. I'm in a good way right now, and I just want to keep playing like this," Szavay continued. "Now I'm going to practice on hardcourts for three weeks before playing in the summer hardcourt season, starting in Los Angeles."
Schnyder was playing her 25th career singles final on the Tour and is now 11-14 in those. She was playing in Budapest for the first time as a wildcard.
Alisa Kleybanova and Monica Niculescu upheld their No.1 seeding in the doubles final, beating No.2 seeds the Bondarenko sisters, 64 76(5), for their first Tour title together. Kleybanova took home her second Tour doubles title, while Niculescu took home her first Tour title of any kind.
