Vaidisova grabs Hansol Open tennis tourney

Second-seeded Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic won the second Hansol Korea Open two sets to love (7-5, 6-3) over top seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in the final held in Seoul Olympic Tennis Court last Sunday. Vaidisova played the tournament without losing a set from the beginning of the round of 32.
With this event, the 16-year-old has captured her third WTA Tour victory after winning the Vancouver Open and the Tashkent Open last year. She took home $22,000 in prize money.
The final match began with Vaidisova serving. Ranked 23rd in the WTA rankings, she notched her first point with a powerfully served ace ― the first of eight throughout the match. The two held their serves until Jankovic, ranked 17th in the WTA, broke with a volley followed by a double fault and unforced error from Vaidisova. The Czech came back breaking Jankovic’s serve, but another double fault gave Jankovic the lead, 4-2.
From then on Jankovic started making unforced errors, allowing Vaidisova to win the next three games to lead 6-5. After the eighth set Jankovic took a medical time-out, complaining of nausea. Jankovic double-faulted to give the set to Vaidisova.
In the second set, Vaidisova utilized powerful serves and forehands to dominate.
She clinched the final game of the match when Jankovic hit down-the-line into the net. Throughout the match, Jankovic made 35 errors compared with 29 by Vaidisova.
Vaidisova said she will come back to the Hansol Korea Open next year if her schedule allows. “I enjoyed my stay here, and the people and this whole stadium are great,” she said.
On her illness, Jankovic said she would have withdrawn from the match if it was not the final.

by Hur Jin-seok, Limb Jae-un