Within 3.5 hours, Sara won two titles in Barcelona!
At 1pm, the singles final against Dominika Cibulkova started, and as all week, Sara started well. She broke Cibulkova to love in the first game. In the next game, Cibulkova broke straight back though. The next three games were breaks as well, but at 3-2, Sara was the first to hold serve. Cibulkova again didn’t hold serve, and at 5-2, Sara served the set out. The second set started differently, with both players holding serve, but then Sara took a lead and never let that go. At 5-2 she served out the match for a 6-2 6-2 win in just over an hour. Like all week, Sara served solidly and played well, but what stood out today was her great returning, including many return winners.
During the trophy ceremony, Sara dedicated the tournament to Piermario Marosini, an Italian footballplayer who died during a match of his team Livorno on saturday. Later she said about this:
“This tournament is for him. It has been very hard. The images have impacted me a lot. It’s amazing that these things can happen. It really makes you think. It brings you back to reality and makes you realize many of the things we compain about in life are just pure nonsense. You have to enjoy every minute of life.”
More quotes from Sara after the match:
“Clay courts are probably better for me than for Cibulkova. She hits very hard and is very fast, but while she can hit two winners in a row, she can also hit consecutive errors – knowing that I knew I had to keep up with her pace, keep the ball deep and be very solid, but also stay aggressive. I’m very happy because it’s the second tournament I’ve won in an amazing season for me. It wasn’t an easy tournament. There were really good players here. The last two matches were quicker than I thought they would be.” About her schedule for the next weeks, she said: “Now I have Fed Cup against Czech Republic, then I play in Budapest, Madrid and Rome. I don’t have any goals for Roland Garros – I just try to go week by week and try to achieve my best every tournament. I still have some time before Roland Garros, and I’ll try to get the best out of myself.”
Because of this tournament win, Sara will reach another best ranking next week: she will climb 5 places and go up to 28.
Only an hour after the singles final ended, Sara was back on court for the doubles final. She and Roberta Vinci were taking on fellow Italians and Fed Cup-teammates Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone. Sara and Roberta had won all their matches easily this week, and today was no different. They won very convincingly: 6-0, 6-2. It’s their 3rd title of the year, in their 5th final. After Acapulco, it’s also the second time this year Sara wins both the singles and the doubles title in the same week.
“Winning a tournament is always special, and if you do it twice in one week it’s something extraordinary,” Sara said about this. “It has been a perfect week.”
You can read more about Sara’s title sweep on the WTA site, on the site of the Italian tennis federation and on ubitennis. Here is also a video of Sara’s victory speech, including her dedicating the win to Piermario Marosini.
In the photogallery you can find pictures from Barcelona.
