LADYDRAGON.COM - Vera Zvonareva wins again the PTT Pattaya Open over Tamarine Tanasugarn

Sunday February 14, 2010

Vera Zvonareva wins again the PTT Pattaya Open over Tamarine Tanasugarn

Vera Zvonareva wins the PTT Pattaya Open for the second year in a row, capturing her 10th Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles, against Thai tennis icon Tamarine Tanasugarn. 64, 6-4.

"I'd like to congratulate Tammy for coming back here and playing so well this week. The Thai people are so proud of her," Zvonareva said. "For me, I'm very happy to come back and defend my title this year. I also hope to come to Pattaya next year. Thanks to all of the sponsors and Mr. Geoffrey Rowe, the Tournament Director, for making the tournament such a success."

"Thank you very much to all the fans here - especially the Thai fans - for cheering me on during the week. Also thanks to the Russian fans for cheering Vera on, she played so well today," Tanasugarn said. "Thanks to all the sponsors who host this tournament every year and give me a chance to play here. I'll try to play my best with my partner in the doubles final now!"

Zvonareva is almost on par in career finals now, going 10-11. She has won her last three finals since finishing runner-up at the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in 2008 - she won here and Indian Wells last year, and now here again this year. It was also Zvonareva's second successful title defense, having won back-to-back Memphis crowns back in 2004 and 2005.

Tanasugarn fell to 3-7 in career finals, but the 32-year-old Thai still salvaged a trophy - she and Marina Erakovic captured the doubles title with a 75 61 win over Anna Chakvetadze and Ksenia Pervak. Tanasugarn won the doubles title here last year with Shvedova - now she and Erakovic win for the first time. Tanasugarn now has seven Tour doubles titles while Erakovic has four.

Top seed Vera Zvonareva and Tamarine Tanasugarn have played each other only once before, with Tanasugarn winning that second round meeting at 2008 Wimbledon in three sets.

Zvonareva is looking to defend her Pattaya title. The most recent player to successfully defend her title on Tour was Serena Williams at the 2010 Australian Open. Zvonareva’s last final was at 2009 Indian Wells, which she won by defeating Ana Ivanovic.

Tanasugarn has advanced to the final of Pattaya for the second time in 16 appearances – the first time was back in 1996 (l. Dragomir). This is her first final since her title run at 2009 ‘s-Hertogenbosch. By reaching the final, she has equaled her best results in her home country, having been a finalist here and in Bangkok in 2006 (l. to King).

This is Zvonareva’s 21st career singles final; she has a 9-11 win-loss record in finals. Tanasugarn is chasing her 4th career singles title, having contested 9 finals previously for a 3-6 win-loss record.

Zvonareva has spent marginally longer on court this week, playing for 6 hours, 41 minutes to reach the final, compared with Tanasugarn, who took 5 hours, 53 minutes.

Both players have lost only one set en route to the final.

Tanasugarn is also competing in the doubles final with Marina Erakovic. The last player to win both the singles and doubles titles at an event was Serena Williams at the 2010 Australian Open.

RANK PROJECTIONS*

Vera Zvonareva is defending champion’s points from last year so to maintain her ranking she will have to repeat.

Tamarine Tanasugarn could return to the Top 75 if she reaches the final and to the Top 65 by winning the tournament.

* Rank projections are approximate until the new rankings are published after the tournament.

About PTT Pattaya Open

The Pattaya professional women’s tennis tournament is now in its 19th year on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

Since 2009 the tournament has been upgraded to be part of the new international series of tournaments, which have a minimum prize money of US$220,000. As well as being upgraded in 2009 the tournament was renamed the PTT Pattaya Open, when PTT Public Co., Ltd joined as the title sponsor alongside Pattaya City.

The tournament continues to be played at the Dusit Thani Hotel, Pattaya, there were many improvements carried out for the 2009 event including the addition of 2 new grandstands and a fourth court for practice on-site.

There will be further improvements made for 2010, notably the provision of roofing on three of the grandstands and addition spotlighting on all three match courts.

Over the years the tournament has hosted some of the top stars in women’s tennis: Anna Kournikova, Martina Hingis, Patty Schnyder, Maggie Maleeva and Conchita Martinez to name a few. In its new format the PTT Pattaya Open will continue to attract both the established stars and the rising stars of women’s tennis.

The PTT Pattaya Open also has the proud record of providing opportunities for local Thai players to compete at the highest level in women’s tennis. Over 100 wild cards in the singles and doubles draw have been given to Thai tennis players since the tournament was first held in 1991. This policy of supporting Thai players has been continued again this year with youngsters competing in the “Star Search” programme getting the opportunity to win wild cards into the qualifying round of the tournament.

Throughout its existence the Pattaya Women’s Open has consistently proven to be one of the most popular events on the tour. It is one of the few tournaments to be staged in a beach resort environment and the only one where the courts are sited next to the sea. The unique setting in the Dusit Thani, Pattaya combined with the renowned Thai hospitality brings players back again and again, year after year.

The tournament is not only popular with the players, but attracts huge media interest both in Thailand and overseas. This year’s Pattaya Women’ Open singles semi-finals and final will be televised “live” to over 200,000,000 people in Russia, Ukraine, Asia and Europe.

The Pattaya Women’s Open has been at the forefront of women’s tennis in Asia for longer than any other professional tennis tournament in the region. The event continues to prosper and grow thanks to the ongoing support of Pattaya City, PTT Public Co.,Ltd, the Sports Authority of Thailand and Chonburi Provincial Administration.

The PTT Pattaya Open remains today one of the most unique tournaments on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Its popularity and reputation continues to grow, which is a tribute to the venue, the organization and to the Pattaya City authorities who have given their full support to the tournament over 19 years of unbroken competition.