PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Sybille Bammer snapped up the second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title of her career on Sunday afternoon, edging Francesca Schiavone in straight sets in the final of the ECM Prague Open.
Bammer, the second seed at the International-level tournament, was nearly ousted twice earlier in the week, rallying from 62 52 down in her first round match against Tsvetana Pironkova before winning, 26 76(2) 75, then surviving a 75 57 75 duel against No.7 seed Lucie Hradecka in the quarterfinals.
Apart from those two marathons she didn't drop a set however, including during a 76(4) 62 win over top seed Schiavone in the final. It was the third time the two 29-year-olds met, after splitting their first two encounters, both on hardcourts last season (Schiavone winning in Dubai and Bammer winning in Linz).
Bammer was playing her second career singles final on the Tour, having won her first, at Pattaya City in 2007 (beating Gisela Dulko in the final). She is one of two mothers in the last two decades to win a singles title on the Tour (Lindsay Davenport also achieved the feat). She has a seven-year-old daughter, Tina.
Prior to this past week, Bammer had only won back-to-back matches once since last summer's US Open, reaching the quarterfinals of Indian Wells earlier this year. With her five wins in Prague she is now 14-12 on the season.
The doubles final was also played on Sunday and it was the No.2-seeded Bondarenko sisters, Alona and Kateryna, who prevailed, beating No.1 seeds Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 61 62. The Bondarenko sisters collected their third doubles title on the Tour together, having previously taken the Australian Open and Paris [Indoors] last year.
