Tauziat Takes Kremlin
Playing a strong serve-and-volley game, Nathalie Tauziat of France upset Barbara Schett of Austria 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 at the $1.05 million Kremlin Cup Sunday for the biggest win of her career.
Tauziat, 32, one of the elders on the women's circuit, shrugged off an embarrassing appearance during the Fed Cup in Moscow in April when she lost all three games she played, and took her first trophy since 1997.
"I had a bad memory about Moscow in April when I played in the Fed Cup, but I came back and had a good week here," said Tauziat, who has four titles since turning pro in 1984.
Tauziat earned $150,000 and 260 points, returning to her career-high ranking of seventh in the world. She now has a chance for a spot at next month's Chase Championships in New York.
Schett, seeded second, dominated the first set, breaking Tauziat in the sixth and eighth games with strong baseline play.
"I slept badly last night and woke up tired, and couldn't find my rhythm in the first set," Tauziat said.
She stepped up her game in the second set, repeatedly approaching the net to counter the hard-hitting Schett, who refused to come up from the baseline.
"She was serving too well for me today," Schett said.
Schett, playing her first final of the year, couldn't keep up in the third set, getting broken in the first game.
"I've played her before and I think the third set was one of the best she ever played," Schett said.
In the doubles final, third seeds Lisa Raymond of the United States and Rennae Stubbs of Australia defeated Anke Huber of Germany and Julie Halard-Decugis of France 6-1, 6-0 in 41 minutes.
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