Tennis Panorama Archives

Archives of TennisPanorama.com 2008-2013

TennisPanorama.com 2008-2013
  • Home
  • Tennis Panorama
You are here: Home / Features / Niculescu Wins Brazil Tennis Cup for First WTA Title

Niculescu Wins Brazil Tennis Cup for First WTA Title

March 2, 2013 By Tennis Panorama News

Monica Niculescu photo by Marcelo Ruschel/POA Press

Monica Niculescu photo by Marcelo Ruschel/POA Press

By Barbara Galiza

(March 2, 2013) FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil – It wasn’t the final most fans in Florianópolis were expecting, but Olga Puchkova and Monica Niculescu made their ticket money worth it. The two battled for two hours until Niculescu came out victorious, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, and snagged her first singles title ever.

 

“I feel so happy and so tired at the same time. At the end, I was cramping a little bit. I think I felt the matches before, when I was playing in the heat, today. I wasn’t 100% fit but I’m happy to finish, I don’t know how I managed to win”, said Niculescu. “I just want to sleep and think about (winning my first title) it tomorrow, when I’ll probably realize what I did. I’m so dead I can’t even smile (laughter).”

 

In the trophy ceremony, Puchkova shared a warm embrace with the Romanian and earnestly congratulated her. The two are good friends.

 

“She’s a nice girl, I was so happy to play with her in the final. We talk everyday. I was so happy. She was so nice at the end. After I won, she said ‘congratulations, I love your slice’, even though she hated in the match”, commented Niculescu on her infamous forehand slice.

 

The tournament, that marked the return of WTA to Brazil since 2002, was headlined by Venus Williams. The American, however, was upset in the semifinals to the eventual runner-up. Even without the former world No. 1 in the final, the tickets for the decisive match sold out.

 

“The public exceeded our expectations. We had nearly 20,000 fans throughout the week and the night matches were all practically full”, said the tournament director, Rafael Westrupp after the final. “Today, before Venus went to the airport, we already started to talk about her coming back in 2014. We want to work towards brings these players back and, hopefully, also a top ten.”

Barbara Galiza is a journalist from Rio de Janeiro and was covering the WTA tennis tournament in  Florianópolis, Brazil as media in  for Tennis Panorama. She likes tennis and writing. Sometimes she blogs, most of the time she tweets. – @fiercetennis. 

Filed Under: Features, Front Page News, news conference, tennis news, tournament coverage, tournaments Tagged With: Brasil Cup, Monica Niculescu, Olga Puchkova, tennis, tennis news, Tennis Panorama News, Venus Williams, women's tennis, WTA, WTA Florianopolis

Archives

  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • March 2009
  • December 2008

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in