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Ekaterina Makarova

Makarova bests Azarenka at Eastbourne

Sun, 06/20/2010 - 11:06 by Pankaj Damin

Eastbourne, England -- Russia's Ekaterina Makarova won her first singles title Saturday, defeating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 in the Aegon International final.

Makarova, who had to qualify for the Eastbourne, England, event, was tested by the pesky Azarenka, who went down 5-2 in the first set but battled back to force a tiebreak. The Russian broke serve in the fifth game of the second set and went on to a much-needed victory.

The Eastbourne win was timely for Makarova, who hadn't been past the second round in any of her 11 previous tournaments in 2010. She now takes some momentum in next week's Wimbledon tourney, where she faces Agnes Szavay in the first round.

Makarova, Azarenka make Eastbourne finals

Fri, 06/18/2010 - 22:28 by Inderjit Singh

Eastbourne -- Ekaterina Makarova and Victoria Azarenka pulled off upsets Friday and won berths in the finals of the Aegon International grass-court tennis tournament.

Makarova ousted third-seeded Samantha Stosur 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 on the strength of nine aces and no double faults. She had her serve broken twice in the first set but held serve all six times in the second. Stosur won just 10 points on Makarova's serve in the second set.

Azarenka was a 6-3, 7-5 winner over eighth-seeded Marion Bartoli. Azarenka collected four service breaks while winning 76 percent of the points on her own serve.

Wickmayer wins women's Estroril Open

Sun, 05/10/2009 - 11:10 by Salinder Kumar

Estoril, Portugal. -- Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer captured the women's title Saturday at the Estoril (Portugal) Open with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Russia's Ekaterina Makarova.

Wickmayer, the 88th-ranked women's player, captured her first singles title.

She reached the final after seventh-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel was forced to retire after only three games in Friday's semifinal due to a foot injury that had bothered her all week.

"Of course I would have preferred (to beat Peer) by playing the whole match," Wickmayer said. "I was playing well until 3-0. Even though I didn't play the whole match (Friday), the games I did play were strong. I've worked hard for it. I beat some good players this week."

Makarova, Wickmayer in Estoril final

Fri, 05/08/2009 - 21:07 by Inderjit Singh

Estoril -- Ekaterina Makarova advanced to her second WTA Tour final in as many weeks Friday with a solid victory in the clay-court Estoril Open in Portugal.

Makarova, who played in the final last week in Morocco, ran by eighth-seeded Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-3, 6-1 in 57 minutes. Makarova didn't face a break point in the match and won 87 percent of the points when she got her first serve in.
She will face Yanina Wickmayer in Saturday's finals. Wickmayer was leading 3-0 when seventh-seeded Shahar Peer retired because of a foot injury.

Makarova, seeded sixth, and Wickmayer have never played before and Saturday's champion will be recording her first WTA tournament title. The Estoril Open winner will also claim $37,000.