BIRMINGHAM, UK - Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova won her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title at the AEGON Classic in Birmingham Sunday, capping a perfect week with a straight set win over China's Li Na in the final.
Rybarikova, the No.13 seed at the first grass court tournament of the season, had taken out No.1 seed Zheng Jie earlier in the week, and complemented that with a 60 76(2) win over No.4 seed Li in the final, blowing through the first set and squeaking through the second set - including saving two set points while serving at 4-5 - en route to her first career Tour title of any kind.
"It's the best feeling in my career. It's unbelievable. It's like a dream," Rybarikova said. "I've always liked grass. I have a good serve, forehand and volley - I think it's my best surface, for sure. I won the first set easily today but I knew the second set would be tougher. I was very nervous in the tie-break."
"I was missing a lot today. It was much different than my match yesterday," said Li, who pulled off her first win in six meetings against Maria Sharapova in the semifinals. "Yesterday was such a big win for me. I was still thinking about that and not thinking enough about today. She played really well though."
Rybarikova's wins over world No.16 Zheng and world No.20 Li were her third and fourth career Top 20 wins, following victories earlier this season over Flavia Pennetta and Caroline Wozniacki. The 20-year-old, now ranked No.58, will surpass her previous career-high ranking of No.46 on the new rankings.
Sharapova was one of the big stories of the week, reaching the semis before the aforementioned loss to Li. It was her sixth appearance in Birmingham and she has reached the semifinals or better all six times now, including title runs in 2004 and 2005 and a runner-up finish to Jelena Jankovic in 2007. She is now 10-3 since returning to the Tour after a nine-month shoulder injury lay-off, which includes quarterfinal showings at Warsaw and Roland Garros.
Cara Black and Liezel Huber, co-ranked No.1 in the world and the top seeds in Birmingham, won the doubles crown, beating No.4 seeds Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears in the final, 61 64. It was their fourth title of the year, having already won Paris [Indoors], Dubai and Madrid. The duo has now won 26 titles together. Black now has 50 Tour doubles titles to her name, the 14th woman ever to hit the big 5-0; Huber now has 38.
