Kirilenko Wins Barcelona KIA for Second Title of Season (from WTA site)
BARCELONA, Spain - She had some struggles early on in the week but when it came to crunch time Maria Kirilenko was impeccable, and on Sunday afternoon the Russian starlet captured her second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title of the year at the Barcelona KIA with a straight set win against María José Martínez Sánchez.
While top seed Shahar Peer and No.3 seed Dominika Cibulkova both succumbed in the first round - Peer to Nuria Llagostera Vives, Cibulkova to a left abdominal strain - No.2 seed Kirilenko kept the favorites' flag flying with some tenacious play on the red clay of Barcelona, needing just over two hours to stop Roland Garros breakthrough story Carla Suárez Navarro in the second round and rallying back from two set points down in the first set to beat last year's runner-up, Edina Gallovits, in straight sets in the quarterfinals. She was even pushed to a tight two-setter in the semifinals against another unseeded player, Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro.
But Kirilenko was dynamic in the final against Martínez Sánchez, winning almost two thirds of the Spanish wildcard's service points but taking nearly two thirds of her own as well, dictating play for an hour and 18 minutes to notch a 60 62 victory. Martínez Sánchez seemed to gain a little life in the second set after losing nine games in a row to commence the title match, closing from 60 30 to 60 32, but Kirilenko regained momentum and finished her off three games later.
Kirilenko won another Tier IV clay court title about two months ago in nearby Estoril, Portugal, and now has four Tour singles titles to her name, following a Tier II triumph at Beijing in 2005 and a Tier III win at Kolkata last fall. She improved her finals record to 4-2 with her win in Barcelona.
