Tennis story by Dominic Taylor, Sat, 07 Jan 2006 17:16:00 GMT


GOLD COAST, Australia - Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic defeated Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-4 to win the Australian women's hard court championships here on Saturday. This was the Czech teenager's third WTA title.

Safarova played flawless tennis for 1 hour, 22 minutes and Pennetta, who vanquished Martina Hingis in the semi finals, had no answer to her aggressive groundstrokes. The win propels Safarova to No 35 in the WTA rankings, 12 places above where she stood at the start of the tournament.

Pennetta moved up three places to the No 20 spot after her showing in this tournament. Safarova ousted seeded players like Ai Sugiyama, Patty Schnyder and Dinara Safina en route to the final and this win should boost her confidence ahead of the Australian Open beginning on January 16.

"The tennis now is about power and it's very fast," Safarova said after her win. "I always play like that. I never wanted to just run and put the balls back. My father taught me as a child that I have to be the one to make the winners." Pennetta admitted that she was tired after her match with Hingis, "I was a little bit tired today but I think she played a great match," she said.

"She has a great return, a great serve and she hits the ball hard. She's a great player.'' Safarova will compete in the Canberra International next week before heading to Melbourne. In the doubles final, Safina and Meghann Shaughnessy overcame Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs 6-2, 6-3.

More Sporting Stuff