Venus Captures Taiwan Open Title, Vinci Wins St. Petersburg
American Venus Williams won the 49th title of her career on Sunday, defeating Japan’s Misaki Doi 6-4, 6-2 to win the Taiwan Open championship.
“I’ve had so much success in Asia,” said Williams after the match. “I feel like it’s very lucky to play here. My opponent was incredible today. It’s fun to win a final that was such a challenge, and I appreciated her game.”
Venus had to come back in the opening set after Doi rattled off four straight games to go up a break in the first, but the American responded with three straight games of her own to take the first set.
In the second, Venus capitalized on three of her four break point chances to cruise to the straight set victory in less than an hour and a half.
“Of course, I celebrated Valentine’s Day with a win; that’s the best way,” said Williams. “I made so many wonderful moments and memories that I’ll be bringing a lot of love back with me to the States.”
In St. Petersburg, Russia, second-seed Roberta Vinci knocked off Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-3 to win the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
After taking out fourth-seed Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals, Vinci played nearly flawless tennis on Sunday. She hit 32 winners to just 12 unforced errors, and notched the only break point of the second set to move past Bencic in straight sets.
“It wasn’t easy,” said Vinci. “It was a tough match; Belinda is a great player, so it’s tough to play against her. She only missed a few balls, so I had to stay focused every single point. But I served so good today, so I think that was the key to my victory.”
