Cornet and Ramos triumph at Banana Bowl
Alize Cornet of France and Spain’s Albert Ramos both
overcame tough opposition to clinch the singles titles at
the Banana Bowl, the third Grade A junior event of the year
in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Sixteen-year-old Cornet, who led France to the final of last
year’s Junior Fed Cup, did not drop a set en route to
the semifinals, where she upset second seed and defending
champion Sharon Fichman (CAN) 64 16 61. In the final she took
on the in-form Bolivian Maria-Fernanda Alvarez, who had easily
disposed of top seed Alexandra Dulgheru (ROM) 61 64 in her
semifinal. In the first meeting between the two players, it
was the French player who came out on top 76(4) 60 to win
her first Grade A title.
An elated Cornet said: “I am so happy to have won my
first Grade A event. I have wanted to win this title for a
long time, and now hope that it will help me to get a good
draw at Roland Garros.”
Ramos took advantage of a series of upsets in the boys’
draw to take the title unseeded. He needed three sets to win
both his quarterfinal and semifinal matches, but then overwhelmed
Brazilian Fernando Romboli 62 60 in the final. Romboli, who
entered the main draw as a lucky loser after defeat in qualifying,
upset two seeds en route to the final, but ran out of steam
in his ninth match of the week.
Ramos said: “I put in a lot of practice before this
event. I was pretty nervous but I played a good game with
very few errors.”
The doubles titles went to the all-American pairing of Jamie
Hunt and Nathaniel Schnugg, and Slovak duo Klaudia Boczova
and Kristina Kucova.
Shanghai extends Masters Cup commitment
ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti has welcomed the decision
by the Chinese promoters of the Tennis Masters Cup, co-owned
by the ATP, ITF and Grand Slams, to extend their commitment
for Shanghai to host the elite eight-man and eight-team tournament
through 2008. Shanghai will now host the tournament for a
minimum of four consecutive years.
The extension reflects the booming popularity of tennis in
China and the success of the Masters Cup in Shanghai in 2002
and 2005. The tournament is currently played at the state-of-the-art
Qi Zhong Tennis Centre built specially for the event in the
city’s south west Minhang district.
Ricci Bitti said: “It is very good news for tennis,
and particularly for tennis in China, that the Tennis Masters
Cup will remain in Shanghai through, at least, 2008. There
will be many milestones for tennis in China over the next
few years with the Olympic Tennis Event in Beijing and three
more outstanding editions of the tournament season-ending
championships in Shanghai.”
The 2006 Tennis Masters Cup will take place on 12-19 November.
For further information visit www.masters-cup.com.
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