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Nadia Petrova
earned her first career singles title on Sunday when she
defeated Patty Schnyder 4-6 6-3 6-1 to win the Linz Open.
The Russian third seed, who had previously contested four
finals, boosted her chance of taking part in the WTA
Championships by replacing Venus Williams at eighth place
in the points standings.
The season-ending event in Los Angeles, which begins on
November 8 features the top eight players in the
standings.
"This is a great step forward for me," said Petrova. "It
gives me a lot of confidence for next year and allows me
to aim for more finals and more titles.
"It was very important that this happened finally. I've
now achieved everything I wanted to this year -- to play
very consistently, to have good results in the grand
slams, and now to win a title. I'm very happy," added the
23-year-old.
By reaching the final, Schnyder moves up to eighth in the
world rankings, matching her career-best achieved in 1999.
She is seventh in the points race for Los Angeles, with
one tournament in Philadelphia to be played next week.
"I'm not too disappointed because I've reached two finals
in the past two weeks," said Schnyder, who was runner-up
to Lindsay Davenport last week in Zurich.
"I'm playing well and looking forward to competing in Los
Angeles."
Schnyder injured her left wrist when she slammed her
racket to the ground during her semi-final but appeared to
strike the ball on Sunday without any discomfort.
The Swiss was the more consistent player in the early
stages of the match.
Petrova dropped her serve to love to give Schnyder a 2-1
lead and then held off two break points at 3-1 with a
service winner and a drop volley.
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Singles
1R Bye
2R beat Iveta Benesova 6-2 6-2
QF beat Daniela Hantuchova
6-2 6-1
SF
beat Ana Ivanovic 7-5 6-2
F lost Nadia Petrova
6-4 2-6 1-6
Photos
Gallery 1
Gallery 2
Article
Schnyder
begins race to be fit
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