TELSTRA--Bigpondsport.com
Monday, April 19, 2010 - 11:14 AM. Australian fourth seed Samantha Stosur won her second career WTA title on Sunday, routing Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-0 6-3 in the final of the $US700,000 ($A750,000) Family Circle Cup.
Stosur, whose only prior WTA crown came last year at Osaka, improved to 5-2 all-time against seventh seed Zvonareva with her fifth victory in a row over the Russian.
'It's always great to play well in any match but to play that well in a final when you want to play that extra little bit better, it was great,' Stosur said. 'I was glad I was able to keep it going all the way to the finish.'
With the $US107,000 ($A114,500) top prize in the clay-court event, 11th-ranked Stosur assured a place in the top 10 in Monday's WTA rankings and signaled she can be a threat at the French Open, where she reached the semi-finals in 2009.
'After this week, I'm feeling great on the clay,' Stosur said. 'It's great to be able to start the clay season. When I get to Roland Garros I will be ready to go and try to at least go as far as I did last year.'
Stosur wore a left wristband bearing the words 'attitude' and 'composure'.
'They are just two words that stood out to me for the last little while,' she said. 'It just keeps me focused on those two things. With the way I played, I was able to do that.'
Zvonareva, ranked 22nd, also was a Charleston runner-up in 2008. Zvonareva, 25, fell to 19-6 on the year and failed in a bid for her 11th career title and her second of the year after a successful title defense in Pattaya City.
'Sam played unbelievable and she deserved to win,' Zvonareva said.
Stosur dominated the first set, surrendering only five points to her Russian rival. Stosur broke at love for a 4-0 edge, having allowed Zvonareva only two points in the first four games.
The Aussie then held and broke again to take the set in 18 minutes.
Stosur held to open the second set, a forehand winner to the far corner claiming the first game, and broke at love for a 2-0 edge, ripping her 15th forehand winner of the match down the line for the break.
An ace up the middle allowed Stosur to hold at love for a 3-0 edge before Zvonareva tried to disrupt Stosur's rhythm with high lobs.
After fallng behind 15-40, Zvonareva shattered her racket on the court, smashed it twice more and kicked it under her seat in anger.
'If you're going to break it, you might as well do it like that,' Stosur said. 'She did a great job.'
The tantrum worked as Zvonareva saved two break points and won the next four points, holding to trail 3-1 after taking 35 minutes to finally win a game.
Stosur recovered to hold for a 4-1 lead. Zvonareva held to 4-2, then jumped ahead 0-30 on Stosur's serve and grabbed her first break when the Aussie sent a backhand wide.
'It was tough,' Stosur said. 'I had to try to stay concentrated, work out what I was doing and keep doing it. You can't little things distract.'
Stosur answered the challenge by seizing two break-point chances in the seventh game, capitalizing with a forehand winner down the line to grab a 5-3 lead and she served out at love to claim the match and the title.
Stosur lost to eventual winner Serena Williams in the fourth round of this year's Australian Open. The 26-year-old from Brisbane also made a run to the Indian Wells semi-finals last month.
Next up for Stosur is a Fed Cup tie in Ukraine, assuming flights to that part of eastern Europe are not stopped by volcanic ash.
