Estonia's Kaia Kanepi produced a stunning display of attacking tennis and a formidable serve to blitz Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova and win the Brisbane International on Saturday. Kanepi, ranked 34th, was in irresistible form as she destroyed her opponent, ranked ten places above her, 6-2, 6-1 in 74 minutes in the Pat Rafter Arena.
The 26-year-old Kanepi overpowered Hantuchova with the ferocity of her groundstrokes, her backhand particularly damaging throughout. "I can't believe what I have done, and how well I have played and who I have beaten and by what score," a delighted Kanepi said afterwards. While her serve was not as effective as in previous rounds, she still did not face a single break point during the final.
"A year ago my coach said that I wasn't serving that well and that in half a year I had to be serving like a top ten player," Kanepi said. "So we have been working very hard on the serve, the technique and everything and I think the work we've done a year ago is paying off right now." Kanepi broke Hantuchova twice in the first set as her fierce returns placed enormous pressure on the Slovakian, and when she raced away to a 4-0 lead in the second the final was as good as over.
Hantuchova went out fighting however and managed to save three match points, but on the fourth a tired looking backhand into the net handed the title to the Estonian. "I felt like I played a great match from the start to the end but she didn't give me too many chances," Hantuchova said. "She was better in all the departments of the game and she really deserved to win.
"When she's on her game it's really hard to do anything and she's been playing like this all week, and when she puts it all together she's a dangerous player. "If she can do this week in and week out she can be up in the top ten very soon." Kanepi went into the match on the back of an impressive semi-final defeat of third seed Francesca Schiavone, where she dropped just three games.