Hitting the ball as hard as anyone out there, Aravane Rezai powered her way to the third and biggest Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title of her young career in Madrid on Sunday afternoon, beating Venus Williams in straight sets in the final of the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, 62 75.Rezai, who had beaten Williams in one of their two previous meetings, made her way into the title match as an unseeded player with a string of upset wins, most notably against Justine Henin in the first round and No.7 seed Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals. Against the No.4-seeded Williams she kept bringing it, cruising through the first set in 28 minutes and rallying from 2-5 - saving six set points - to take the one-hour, 14-minute second set.
Rezai had lost her first two finals on the Tour but has now won three in a row, starting at Strasbourg a year ago and taking the season-ender in Bali last fall. This is the first time she has beaten two Top 10 players in the same week - Jankovic, Williams - bringing her career tally to four Top 10 wins.
Williams was looking for the 10th clay court title of her career - she is currently second among active players on that list with nine (Henin has 13). She does lead overall career titles however, with 43 (Henin is second with 42).
By virtue of her third round win, Williams secured a return to No.2 on the new rankings; there's a chance the 29-year-old could regain No.1 after the French, depending on how she does there compared to current No.1 and sister Serena.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Singles - Final
Aravane Rezai (FRA) d. (4) Venus Williams (USA) 62 75
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