Final Recap of Baku Cup – Zvonareva defeats Pervak

Written by: Staff on 24th July 2011

Final Recap of Baku Cup - Zvonareva defeats Pervak

Vera Zvonareva of Russia returns to Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria during their third round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 24 June 2011. EPA/NEIL MUNNS |

BAKU CUP

Baku, Azerbaijan

July 18-24, 2011

$220,000/International

Hard/Outdoors

Results – Sunday, July 24, 2011

Singles – Final

(1) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. (7) Ksenia Pervak (RUS) 61 64

Doubles – Final

(2) Koryttseva/Poutchek (UKR/BLR) d. (1) Niculescu/Voskoboeva (ROU/KAZ) 63 26 108 (Match TB)

Final Facts

– Zvonareva wins her second WTA title of the year, after Doha, and the 12th of her career. She improves to 12-16 in tour finals.

– The 26-year-old Russian has now won multiple titles in the same year on four occasions (2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011).

– Zvonareva is projected to remain at No.3 when the rankings are released on Monday.

– 20-year-old Pervak was contesting her first WTA final, after two previous semifinal finishes – most recently last week at Bad Gastein.

– Today’s final marked just the second time Pervak had faced a Top 10 opponent (played Safina at 2009 Portoroz).

– Playing in Baku on a career high ranking of No.55, Pervak is projected to make her Top 50 debut by virtue of reaching the final.

– Mariya Koryttseva and Tatiana Poutchek win their second WTA doubles title as a team, having also won at Guangzhou in 2008. Both now have five doubles titles to their names. Koryttseva also reached the semifinals of the singles event in Baku, falling to Zvonareva.

Final Quotes

Vera Zvonareva, 2011 Baku Cup singles champion:

“Every single opponent was tough. Right now women’s tennis is at a very high level and very competitive, and I know if I don’t have my full concentration or I don’t give my best there is no chance I will win a match. Maybe I didn’t play my best tennis this week but I still fought very hard and the level of concentration was very high. I really played every single match from the first point to the last, and it’s a great feeling to win at the end of the day.”

Ksenia Pervak, 2011 Baku Cup singles runner-up:

“It was a really tough match. Vera’s a really good player and has a lot of experience and so it was really difficult to play against her. Maybe I didn’t show my best game, but I played pretty well I think, especially in the second set.”

Mariya Koryttseva, 2011 Baku Cup doubles champion:

“I’m so happy for this week. Finally some results came out for me and I’m very glad Tatiana and I did this title. For me it’s been a good week and I’ve enjoyed being here so much.”

Tatiana Poutchek, 2011 Baku Cup doubles champion:

“We’re really happy because to win a tournament is always nice and this final was really tough. They’re great doubles players and a great team. We knew it was going to be tough and we had to stick together for every point.”