48 hours: Daniilidou delights with double

By JULIE ASH

Her racquet was cast aside and her arms thrust high in the air.

Greek tennis ace Eleni Daniilidou had achieved what very few players have managed in the ASB Classic - her second consecutive singles title.

In fact, it has been 15 years since American Patty Fendick won the singles title then defended it the following year.

In sweltering temperatures and with the Auckland crowd behind her - including those crazy characters in corporate box 24 who had dressed as rock stars for the occasion - the delightful Daniilidou swept aside up-and-coming American teenager Ashley Harkleroad 6-3, 6-2, to follow her win over Korean Yon Jeong Cho in last year's final.

Organisers of this year's Classic could not have wished for a better finale to what had been an extremely successful week of tennis.

Standing nearly 1.8m tall, the sleek Daniilidou powered her way into the final with relative ease, beating qualifier Jelena Kostanic of Croatia, American Melien Tu, Switzerland's Emmanuelle Gagliardi and then the top seed, Argentine Paola Suarez, who was her toughest opponent of the tournament.

The 21-year-old Greek, ranked 26th in the world, was impressive to watch.

Her powerful serve - which did go a little haywire in the final - combined with her strong forehand and backhand and her uncanny ability to slice the ball down the court just millimetres from the sideline, proved too much for her opponents, who failed to take a set off her all week.

For Harkleroad, who is renowned for her even temperament and ability to fight back in difficult situations, the road to the final was a little less straightforward.

The 18-year-old easily dismissed fellow American Teryn Ashley in her first game, but Harkleroad had to pull out some of her best shots to beat second seed Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi in the second round, promising Anca Barna in the quarter-finals and then young Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli in the semis.

Competing in her first Women's Tour Association final, Harkleroad, who is known to let loose the odd ear-piercing scream during matches, showed she can handle the big stuff and may just reach her goal of securing a spot in the top 10 by the end of the year.

For Daniilidou, who left her family on Christmas Day to ensure she had plenty of time in Auckland to prepare for the tournament, the win was the perfect start to a year in which she hopes to secure an Olympic gold medal in her home country.

Her win in the Classic netted her a cool $32,000 and, best of all, there is a good chance she may just return to Auckland next year and try for the treble.

"I love to be here," she said. "I would be very happy to come back."

For New Zealand tennis fans, 17-year-old Eden Marama was a revelation.

Paris-based Marama, ranked way back at 496th in the world, cleaned out New Zealand No 1 Shelley Stephens in the first round before putting in an outstanding performance against world No 48 Barna in the second round, narrowly losing 6-4, 7-5.

Marama was punished for a couple of impatient shots by baseliner Barna, but gave as good as she got for much of the match.

If anything, the Classic proved just how competitive it is on the women's tour.

It was an eye-opener to watch the power and athleticism of such athletes - many of whom appeared tiny.

The roll of honour of Classic winners has yet to feature a New Zealander. Don't be surprised if the name Marama breaks that duck in a few years' time.



HIGH POINT

Stephen Fleming's 115 which took the Black Caps to a convincing seven-wicket win over Pakistan and a 2-1 lead in the one-day series. Also New Zealand triathlete Cameron Brown's win in the Port of Tauranga half ironman - his seventh consecutive win that is.

LOW POINT

Although it was always going to be tough coming up against two of the top four teams in the Australian National Basketball League, the Breakers' chances of making the playoffs took a further beating after they went down to the Sydney Kings 109-99 on Friday night and then lost to the Sydney Razorbacks 98-82 on Saturday night.