tennishead Hot Stuff: Vera Dushevina
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The signs have been there for a while now and on Sunday Vera Dushevina completed the journey from protégé to WTA Tour title winner with a crushing defeat over Czech Lucie Hradecka.
The 22-year-old from Khimki first popped up on the tennishead radar in 2002 when she beat a certain Maria Sharapova to win the Wimbledon girls’ singles title.
It’s taken her longer than some to realise her potential on the women’s tour, although the right-hander had made three finals before claiming her first WTA crown in Istanbul on Sunday.
Following runner-up spots at Eastbourne in 2005 and Stockholm in 2007 and 2008, the 5ft 10” blonde admitted she was less than confident when she arrived in Turkey but went on to drop just 16 games all week.
She took out local hope Yuliana Fedak 6-1, 6-4, Maria Elena Camerin 6-0, 6-1, third seed Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-1, 6-2, Swiss Timea Bacsinszky in the semis for the loss of just six games and Hradecka 6-0, 6-1 in the final.
Her form was so good that she now holds the record this year for the least amount of games lost on the way to a WTA Tour singles title.
“Before I came to Istanbul, I lost early in Portoroz, and I wasn’t very excited about playing again this week,” Dushevina said.
“I was upset, and I didn’t come here thinking I could win. It was a tough tournament with a lot of top players, so I’m very happy I was able to win the title.
“I’m very happy to win my first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title. I’ve played three finals before this so finally I have a title!”
