LINZ, Austria, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan Nadia Petrova of Russia, 7-5, 6-4, in 81 minutes Sunday in the final of the $585,000 Generali Ladies Linz.
Sugiyama beat three younger players -- Jelena Dokic, Vera Zvonareva, and Petrova, the No. 4 seed - on the way to her fifth career WTA Tour singles title. Her first came at Scottsdale in March.
"I'm so happy to win here," said Sugiyama, who earned $93,000. "I had great preparation all week and my discipline really paid off. It's a mental game out there. You have to be really tough on the important points and every game was close."
Sugiyama will remain at No. 11 in the singles rankings on Monday, but will take over the eighth spot in the race to reach the season-ending tournament at Los Angeles, moving ahead of Chanda Rubin by eight points.
She also teamed with Liezel Huber of South Africa to win the doubles crown.
