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With a flurry of winners flying off of her racquet - 36 in total, from her serve, forehand, backhand, the net, from all over the court really - Samantha Stosur stormed to her second and biggest Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title on Sunday, beating Vera Zvonareva for the Family Circle Cup, 60 63.
Stosur came out on absolute fire in the final, winning the first nine games in a row before Zvonareva destroyed a racquet and got on the board for 60 31; things were a little tighter from there as Zvonareva got back on serve and closed to 60 43, but Stosur broke again then held one more time to complete the 52-minute win, the quickest final in Family Circle Cup history.
"To be able to play that well in a final is a great feeling. You always hope you'll do that, but to actually go and perform that way is very, very pleasing," said Stosur, who has now beaten Zvonareva five straight times. "Vera and I played a few weeks ago in Indian Wells and I was able to do it there too. Obviously I wasn't taking anything for granted here, and I definitely had to play well."
Stosur becomes the first Australian to win the singles title at the Family Circle Cup. It is her second career singles title on the Tour, her first coming last fall at the International-level event in Osaka, Japan (on hardcourts).
"The first title I won is always going to be very special. It took me a while to get that," Stosur said. "This is bigger than Osaka though. To do it on clay and playing well all week is just a great feeling. You can't really compare the two, but this is definitely a bigger event and I'm very pleased I was able to play so well."
And what about the big banner of her likeness that will go up on the stadium in time for next year's event? "It might be weird next year coming back and seeing my face when I'm driving to the courts, but it's kind of cool. I'll enjoy it as much as I can."
Zvonareva was playing in her 22nd career final (now 10-12 in those) and second in Charleston (she was runner-up to Serena Williams here two years ago).
"Right now I'm a little bit disappointed about the match. Overall I think it's a good start to the clay court season though," Zvonareva said. "It was my first clay court tournament in about two years, so I should be happy. Hopefully I can keep improving my game and play well the rest of the clay court season.
"It was definitely great to be playing in front of the crowd here in Charleston. Everyone loves their tennis here. Everyone comes to see the tournament every year, and it's a pleasure to be able to play on the center court with the stadium packed with fans."
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