Schiavone Wins Marrakech Title

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Schiavone Wins Marrakech Title

By Chris Oddo

(April 28, 2013) -- She had been struggling for the last year, but the red clay has thrown Francesca Schiavone a lifeline yet again.

The 32-year-old Italian took out Lourdes Dominguez Lino in a physical match at the finals off the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Marrakech, 6-1, 6-3.

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Schiavone, who hadn’t been past the quarterfinals of any draw in 2013, did not drop a set all week en route to her sixth career title. Though she didn’t defeat anybody in the top 30, the former French Open champion displayed plenty of the opportunistic shotmaking that took her to a career-high ranking of No. 4 not too long after her French Open triumph in 2010.

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"This was a great week for me after a long, very difficult period," Schiavone said after the match. "To win here is a great start to the clay court season for me and inspires me to keep working hard."

Schiavone, seeded sixth, won the first set without facing a break point against the Spaniard.

In the second set, she fell behind 3-1 before roaring back to win the final five games for her fourth consecutive win against Dominguez Lino.

The match was physical, and closer than the score might indicate, as 9 of 16 games went to deuce.

Schiavone improved her record in finals to 6-11 with the win, and she will climb inside the WTA’s top 40 on Monday.

Dominguez Lino, who will crack the WTA’s top 50 on Monday, dropped to 2-2 in WTA finals. She had knocked out the tournament’s defending champion, Kiki Bertens, in the quarterfinals.

(Photo Credit: AP)