SPORTS

Mauresmo wins Montreal title

August 09, 2004 11:13 IST

France's Amelie Mauresmo needed just 51 minutes to sweep past unseeded Russian Elena Likhovtseva 6-1, 6-0 and lift the Montreal Cup in Toronto on Sunday, her third title of the year.

Second seed Mauresmo took complete control of the final after struggling in some of her earlier matches, while Likhovtseva appeared to have little energy left following a gruelling three-set win over Anastasia Myskina late on Saturday.

"I think she was tired from last night," said Mauresmo, who also won the Montreal title in 2002.

"There wasn't a lot of time for her to recover."

Likhovtseva managed to hold serve in her first game but struggled for the remainder of the match, which was delayed by 50 minutes due to heavy rain.

The 28-year-old's strong baseline game had propelled her to a string of upsets as she stunned eighth seed Nadia Petrova, fifth seed Jennifer Capriati and third seed Myskina, the French Open champion, on her way to the final.

But the Russian could not compete with Mauresmo's powerful serve and strong backhands during the short match.

"Amelie played a great match," Likhovtseva said. "Last night was very tough on me too."

The victory is expected to lift the 25-year-old Mauresmo to a career-best second in the WTA Tour rankings. Sunday's victory was her third title this year following wins at the Germany Open and Rome Masters in May.

Source: REUTERS
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