Schiavone takes title in Moscow after demolishing Belarussian in straight sets

She started the week off very slowly but as soon as she gathered steam there was just no stopping her, and on Sunday afternoon Francesca Schiavone won the second and biggest Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title of her career at the $1,000,000 Kremlin Open in Moscow.

Schiavone, the No.8 seed at the Premier-level tournament, battled for two and a half hours to escape her first round match against qualifier Nuria Llagostera Vives, but didn't drop a single set the rest of the way, including losing a total of just 12 games in her last three matches combined.

In Sunday's final, Schiavone found herself on serve with the unseeded Olga Govortsova at 4-3 in the first set but reeled off eight games in a row to win, 63 60. During those eight games she lost only 11 points to the Belarusian.

"At the start it was a fight. We had a big game, the sixth game of the first set, that lasted about 15 minutes. I won it to go up 4-2, then I won the first set," Schiavone said. "In the second set I was very solid. When I got to 4-0 in the second set I looked at the trophy and said to myself, 'I'm coming to get you!'"

"Francesca played very well today. I was trying my best and in the first set there were a lot of long games, especially that sixth game, but she didn't miss much," Govortsova said. "It was the first time I've played here and I was happy to get to the final of such a big event. It'll give me confidence for next year."

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Singles - Final
(8) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. Olga Govortsova (BLR) 63 60