Cornet Nabs First Title Since 2008 in Bad Gastein

By Chris Oddo

Photo Credit: AP

(June 17, 2012) -- Forgoing a week of grass-court tune-ups, Alize Cornet of France and Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium instead elected to finish the clay-court season a little late at the Nurnberger Gastein Ladies Open in Austria.

They finished it with a bang.

For Cornet, the boom was a little louder as she didn’t drop a set all week, in spite of the fact that she was in danger of losing both sets against Wickmayer this afternoon.

The 22-year-old Nice, France, native used off-speed tactics to keep the more powerful Wickmayer off-balance throughout the final. She was down 4-5 in the first set but rallied to take the final three games.

In the second, Cornet nearly wasted a 5-3 lead, but pulled it together in the nick of time. While serving at 5-6, 15-30, the world No. 73 rallied to force a tiebreaker and converted on the first match point she saw to finish off Wickmayer in two hours and thirteen minutes, 7-5, 7-6(1).

The title is the first since 2008 for the former world No. 11, and the second in a career that has seemed so promising at times and so frustrating at others.

“I was playing a lot of chip and slice today,” said Cornet afterwards. “She plays really aggressively and I can’t play like her or she will kill me.”

The second-seeded Belgian drops to 3-5 in finals, while Cornet’s final record moves to 2-3. Cornet was a finalist three weeks ago in Strasbourg, where she lost to Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-4.

In the doubles final Julia Goerges and Jill Craybas earned their first WTA doubles title as a team when they upset the first-seeded pairing of Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Petra Martic 6-7(4), 6-4, 11-9.

Jankovic and Oudin Work Double Duty to Set Up AEGON Final

It was an extremely busy day on the waterlogged grass courts at the AEGON classic in Birminghan, England. Fifth-seeded Jelena Jankovic and qualifier Melanie Oudin each completed their quarterfinal matches early on Sunday, then won their semifinals to reach the final.

While both Oudin and Jankovic have had moments in the sun over the course of their careers, neither has done much to inspire confidence in their abilities of late -- until this week. Oudin, who began the week outside the top 200, has now reached her first career final after finishing off fellow American Irina Falconi in the third set and then taking out eighth-seeded Ekaterina Makarova in the semis, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

"I've played six or seven matches here and I feel my confidence building with each one," said the 20-year-old Georgia native.

Jankovic, who took a wildcard into the draw, finished off a straight-sets defeat of Misaki Doi before outlasting Zheng Jie in a three-setter that lasted two hours and thirty-eight minutes, 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-1.

Oudin and Jankovic will square off for the second time in Monday's final. In their first meeting Oudin pulled a massive upset against Jankovic -- who was ranked No. 6 in the world at the time -- by defeating her in the third round of Wimbledon, 2009.

Oudin was ranked 124 then, 84 spots higher than her current ranking of 208.