BAD GASTEIN, Austria
Flashback to five years ago - a No.98-ranked up-and-comer who had never even won back-to-back matches at the WTA level stepped onto the clay of picturesque Bad Gastein and found her voice, going all the way to the first WTA title of what would become a fantastic career.
Andrea Petkovic conjured up that 2009 magic at the very same venue this year, though obviously as a top player this time, battling her way to the NÜRNBERGER Gastein Ladies title for a second time. And there definitely were some major battles throughout the week, starting right out of the gates in the first round. In a rematch of this year's Charleston final, Petkovic saved set points in both sets of a razor-thin 7-6(8), 7-5 win over Jana Cepelova; she also had to go to three long sets in the semifinals against Grace Min, eventually edging past the WTA Rising Star from the United States, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. But the No.4-seeded German saved her very best for the final, outdoing another American WTA Rising Star, Shelby Rogers, in a break-filled straight setter in just an hour and 13 minutes, 6-3, 6-3. Petkovic now has four WTA titles - Bad Gastein in 2009, Strasbourg in 2011, and Charleston and Bad Gastein again this year. This is the first time she has won multiple WTA titles in the same year.
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