STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Top-ranked Justine Henin rallied to beat Tatiana Golovin 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 Sunday and win the Porsche Grand Prix for her eighth title of the year.
Henin dropped her first set since losing the Wimbledon semifinal to Marion Bartoli, but stretched her winning streak to 16 matches, including a run to the U.S. Open title.
Golovin lost the Porsche Grand Prix final for the second straight year, after beating No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova in Saturday’s semifinal.
Henin now has 37 career titles. She also won the French Open this year and is 54-4 for the year.
"I finally got this title," said Henin, who had lost twice in the final of the tournament, in 2001 and 2003.
Henin had a choice of driving away in a Porsche 911 convertible or taking US$92,410 in cash as the first prize.
"Give me a few minutes to think about it," Henin said on the court during the award ceremony, not deciding immediately which one she would choose.
Golovin played a strong first set and took advantage of some uncharacteristic mistakes by Henin, who netted an overhead smash and than double-faulted to go down 4-2. Golovin took the set with a forehand winner.
The two traded service breaks at the start of the second but Henin took command of the match after breaking again for a 3-2 lead. She finished with 36 winners, 11 more than Golovin.
——=
Parmentier upsets top-seeded Azarenka at Tashkent Open final, wins her first WTA Tour title
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (AP) — Pauline Parmentier of France won her first career WTA Tour final Sunday, upsetting top-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7-5, 6-2 in the final of the Tashkent Open.
The 87th-ranked Parmentier was playing in only her third WTA event this season and had not made it past the second round before. She upset second-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in the first round, third-seeded Olga Govortsova of Belarus in the semifinals and did not drop a set throughout the tournament.
"I’m really happy," said Parmentier. "But I do not know how it happened."
The 18-year-old Azarenka, who reached the fourth round at the U.S. Open, opened strongly and was leading 4-1 in the first set. Serving at 5-3, Azarenka failed to convert two set points and lost the next four games and the set. She jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second set, but Parmentier won six consecutive games to clinch the title.
"I was nervous at the beginning but at 5-3 down in the first set I caught my rhythm and stayed concentrated for the rest of the match," Parmentier said.
It was also the first WTA final for the 38th-ranked Azarenka, who said she had been impressed with Parmentier throughout the week.
"Pauline played perfect tennis this week," Azarenka said. "I saw all her matches."
——=
Juan Monaco wins first-round match in straight sets at Stockholm Open
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Fifth-seeded Juan Monaco beat Swedish wild card Ervin Eleskovic 6-3, 6-3 in Sunday’s only first-round match at the Stockholm Open.
Monaco, an Argentine clay court specialist, will meet the winner between Oscar Hernandez of Spain and a yet determined qualifier in the second round.
Eleskovic, 20, has never won a match on the ATP Tour. It was the fourth straight year the Stockholm organizers gave him a wild card.
James Blake is the two-time defending champion and will face Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman in the first round on either Monday or Tuesday. The American is unbeaten (10-0) in the Swedish capital.
The tournament, one of the oldest indoors on the ATP Tour, is being played for the 39th year on hardcourt carpet at the Royal Tennis Hall.
——=
Tommy Robredo rallies to beat Andy Murray
METZ, France (AP) — Top-seeded Tommy Robredo rallied to beat Andy Murray 0-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the Moselle Open.
It was the Spaniard’s sixth career title.
Murray, seeded third, dominated the first set of the ATP indoor tournament before Robredo took control.
"Andy was really good in the first set. He put the ball where he wanted," Robredo said.