Anna-Lena Groenefeld Wins First Title

Anna-Lena Groenefeld has won her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title at the $180,000 Abierto Mexicano TELCEL presented by HSBC after defeating top seed Flavia Pennetta, 6-1 4-6 6-2.

Second-seeded Groenefeld dominated the first set over Pennetta, who was unable to find her shots and get into a rhythm. The German raced to a 4-0 lead, keeping her Italian foe under constant pressure with her big serve and trademark aggressive game.

Pennetta was able to change the tide in the second set, taking advantage of some of her opponent’s careless shots. She capitalized on this at 4-4, when the Italian stayed consistent to hold serve for 5-4. Groenefeld attempted to avoid going to a third set, but was unable, netting a forehand volley to give Pennetta a break point, which she converted to force a decisive third set.

In the third set, Groenefeld was back in the driver’s seat, and a clearly frustrated and racquet-tossing Pennetta continued to falter on her shots. At 4-2, Groenefeld tasted victory and didn’t look back, breaking Pennetta and serving out the match to win her first-ever Tour singles title.

“I started very well, and then in the second set, I made more errors,” Groenefeld admitted. “But I felt comfortable after the second set. I just tried to tell myself to keep being aggressive and going for my shots.”

“The key today was to continue to be aggressive, to keep her behind the baseline and keep moving in.”

(source)