Agnes Szavay reacts during her match against Zahlavova Strycova

Agnes Szavay registered her tenth consecutive win and claimed her second WTA title in two weeks to signal her fellow competitors that she is for real. Tomas Berdych heartthrob defeated Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 in the finals of the ECM Prague Open.

Szavay’s win was hard earned as the Czech opponent sought her first tour championship on her home turf. Szavay was the seventh seed and Zahlavova Strycova was seeded eighth. This was the first meeting between the two.

Szavay swept through the first set only to have the tables turned by the home standing Zahlavova Strycova in the second. Between the second and third sets, Szavay composed herself and silenced the fans by returning to her solid groundstrokes and all court play to sweep the third set 6-1 in just 28 minutes.

Earlier in her career, Szavay put together two seven-match win streaks. This win in Prague put Agnes in fast company. Only Szavay and Venus Williams have won back-to-back tournaments this year.

Meanwhile, Kaia Kanepi became the first Estonian to win a WTA title by defeating French Open Champion Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-3 at Palermo Italy. Previously Kanepi, the fifth seed, had beaten Pennetta twice but never on clay.

Pennetta started quickly, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first set and holding a double break point to go up 3-0. Kanepi picked up her game and quickly evened the match before earning a pivotal break in the tenth game to claim the set.

Kanepi had reached the finals at Hasselt in 2006 only to be defeated by Kim Clijsters and in 2008 at Tokyo where she fell to Caroline Wozniacki. Palermo is Kaia’s first WTA title. Pennetta’s finals record fell to 9-11.

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