BASTAD, Sweden - María José Martínez Sánchez played the spoiler on Saturday, beating birthday girl Caroline Wozniacki to win her second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title at the Collector Swedish Open Women.
Martínez Sánchez had actually been playing a bit of a spoiler all week long, coming into the inaugural International tournament unseeded and taking out No.4 seed Kaia Kanepi and No.7 seed Carla Suárez Navarro on the way to the final. Up next was a far more daunting task however, as Wozniacki - ranked No.9, seeded No.1 and playing her sixth final of the year - was in top form.
The final, which marked the two players' first meeting, was tight, but the 26-year-old Martínez Sánchez used her clay court game to out-fox Wozniacki in many of their rallies, taking a 45-minute first set, 7-5, and rallying from 1-4 to to win a 49-minute second set, 6-4. She threw her arms up after it was all done.
"I'm very happy about my win today and how I played. It was really windy today but I think that helped me, because I like to serve and volley and Caroline played more from the baseline," Martínez Sánchez said. "I'm really proud I was able to beat the No.9 player in the world. It was a great week for me. Nuria and I played well in the doubles final too. I really wish we could have won the doubles title."
Martínez Sánchez won her first singles title on the Tour earlier this season at Bogotá, also on red clay. Her win over Wozniacki was also the second Top 10 win of her career, after beating then-No.10 Nadia Petrova at Rome in May.
"My win in Bogotá and my win here are the best moments of my career," Martínez Sánchez continued. "When I came here I wasn't thinking if I could win or not, but I was trying to do my best. I felt bad for Caroline because she wanted to win on her birthday - I can't give her the title, but I'll buy her dinner!"
Wozniacki was hoping to unwrap another Tour title on her 19th birthday, but had to walk away with the runner-up trophy. However, the Scandinavian crowd wasn't short of showing its appreciation for their region's No.1, singing Happy Birthday to the Danish star after the match. She is now 2-4 in finals this year.
Another player who excelled at the Collector Swedish Open Women was Gisela Dulko, who won nail-biters against a pair of seeds in the second round and quarterfinals before falling to Martínez Sánchez in the semifinals. Dulko first saved four match points to beat No.5 seed Sorana Cirstea, then another two match points to stop No.2 seed Dominika Cibulkova.
Dulko and Flavia Pennetta, who was also a semifinalist in singles, in turn spoilt the doubles hopes of Martínez Sánchez and Nuria Llagostera Vives, denying the Spaniards a fourth Tour doubles title of the year together - which would have tied them with world No.1s Cara Black and Liezel Huber - with a 62 06 105 match tie-break win in the final. Dulko and Pennetta won their third title together, having triumphed at Bogotá in 2006 and Hobart earlier this year. Pennetta now has six Tour doubles titles to her name, Dulko eight.
