Australian teenager Adriana Szili was too strong for New Zealand's Ilke Gers in the final of the women's international tournament in Wellington yesterday.
Szili, who turned 17 last month, stuck to a game plan that concentrated on Gers' weak forehand to race to a 6-2, 6-2 win in 57 minutes and
consign a New Zealander to the runner-up spot for the fourth time in five years.
It was an impressive, all-round performance by Szili, but Gers contributed to her loss with too many unforced errors.
Three times at vital stages she was in a position to win points, only to put what should have been winning smashes out of court.
Both players began tentatively in losing their opening service games, but it was the Australian who settled first, breaking Gers again in the third and seventh games to win the set.
Gers lost her opening service game in the second set, and when Szili broke her again in the fifth game, the match was as good as over.
A disappointed Gers acknowledged her mistakes and the fact that Szili had played well.
The Australian described winning the $US10,000 ($24,300) tournament as putting herself on the bottom rung of a ladder she appears capable of climbing.
"It is pretty much my first major women's tournament win and it will boost my confidence as well as my ranking," said Szili, who is ranked 691 in the world.
In the doubles final, fourth seeds Chin-Wei Chan and Chia-Jung Chuang of Taipei beat Australian second seeds Nicole Kriz and Sarah Stone 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.
* In Tokyo, top seed Martina Hingis continued her mastery over Monica Seles with a 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-3 victory in the final of the Pan Pacific Open.
- NZPA
