The way the week started off ” the cloudy and drizzly conditions ” along with several top players absent due to injuries, one could have expected a less than stellar 2006 Acura Classic at the La Costa Resort & Spa. No fear, though; the stars came through in the clutch.
Second-seeded Maria Sharapova outlasted top-seeded Kim Clijsters of Belgium last Sunday afternoon in the championship, winning 7-5, 7-5, and claiming the 2006 crown.
“It was a tough match, but I hung in there,” Sharapova said afterward on Stadium Court. “I had lost four times in a row to her (Clijsters), but I thought today might be my lucky one.”
Maybe a little luck along the way, but a lot of gritty tennis from the 19-year-old Russian, too.
After losing the opening set, Clijsters, 23, was forced to win back-to-back sets to claim her first-ever Acura crown, but it wasn’t to be.
Struggling on serve in the first set, Clijsters improved her serve in the second set, losing only four points in her first five service games. Sharapova, however, was equal to the task, taking a 6-5 lead on her own serve.
Clijsters quickly fell behind on serve 0-40, but managed one point when Sharapova netted her first championship point. On the next point, Clijsters could not handle a Sharapova return. Her ball sailed long, and with it, her hopes of winning the Acura title.
After several days of overcast conditions, which sometimes resembled Wimbledon in late June or early July, the Acura Classic saw the sun come out last Friday afternoon and four of the game’s top players in the process.
On quarterfinal day, Sharapova, Mary Pierce (2005 Acura champion), Clijsters and Martina Hingis (1997, 1999 Acura champion) saw action.
In the last match of the afternoon, Sharapova used a pair of first-set service breaks to score a 6-2 win over Pierce in the opening set. Sharapova immediately broke Pierce in the second set en route to a 6-3 win and a spot in the semifinals. In Saturday’s semis, Sharapova scored a 7-5, 6-4 win over Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder.
In Friday’s other quarterfinal event, and the highlighted match of the evening, Clijsters stopped Hingis 7-5, 6-2 to advance to the semis.
Neither player appeared to want to hold serve in the first set, with five service breaks being recorded. Clijsters used a pair of breaks in the second set on her way to victory. In Saturday’s semis, Clijsters recorded a 6-2, 7-6 win over Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic.
In the doubles final, Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs topped Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Meghann Shaughnessy 6-2, 6-2, recording their second Acura Classic doubles title in the last three years.
SERVICE WINNERS: The title was Sharapova’s first since capturing the championship back in March at Indian Wells. For her victory in Carlsbad, Sharapova netted $196,000 and a 2007 Acura automobile. Clijsters claimed $100,000 as the runner-up. The 2007 Acura Classic will be held July 28-Aug. 5.
