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It seemed so far away a few days ago but after making it through the diffuclt times Anabel Medina Garrigues only picked up more steam, and on Saturday the Spaniard steamrolled Ekaterina Makarova in 60 minutes for the ninth Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title of her career.
Medina Garrigues, seeded No.1 at the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem, held on the red clay courts of Fès, Morocco, began her campaign quickly with a 61 61 first round win over Camille Pin, but was nearly sent packing in her second round match, as Klara Zakopalova held three match points while leading 61 65; Medina Garrigues would save them all and win, 16 76(1) 63, before recording a tight 76(5) 76(5) quarterfinal win over Lourdes Domínguez Lino. In the semifinals, she had won the first set, 6-0, when Melinda Czink retired with gastrointestinal illness, propelling her into the final.
Makarova, seeded No.6, wasn't troubled much en route to her first career singles final on the Tour, being pushed past 6-4 in a set just once and rolling over No.2 seed Alisa Kleybanova in the semifinals, 62 61. But she met her match in the final; Medina Garrigues only let three games go to deuce and she won them all, a quick break of serve in the 11th game being the Russian's breadstick.
Medina Garrigues' experience in Fès was a near-repeat of what happened last year, when she saved match point in the early rounds against the tricky Sesil Karatantcheva and eventually made it to the final. But last year she finished a runner-up, losing to Argentina's Gisela Dulko in an extremely close two-setter.
Now she emerges with her ninth career singles title on the Tour, having claimed Palermo four times (2001, 2004, 2005, 2006), Strasbourg three times (2005, 2007, 2008) and Canberra once (2006). She is now 9-5 in finals. The Spaniard, who came into Fès ranked a career-high No.18 in the world, is projected to rise to a new career-high of No.16 with the result, flirting with the world's Top 15.
Makarova's best results on the Tour before this week were quarterfinals at Eastbourne, Forest Hills and Seoul, all last year. Kleybanova also had her best finish, her best prior results also being three quarterfinals last year, at Antwerp, here in Fès and in Eastbourne. They continued their best-ever weeks by winning the doubles title, both taking away their first Tour titles of any kind. The No.2 seeds, they saved four match points during an 18-16 match tie-break quarterfinal win then went on to win another match tie-break in the final, beating No.1 seeds Sorana Cirstea and Maria Kirilenko for the title, 63 26 108.
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