The International Women’s Open finals, the last grass court competition prior to Wimbledon, featured Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwanska, ranked 14th in the world and seeded 4th , against tour veteran Russian Nadia Petrova, ranked 22nd and seeded 8th . The day belonged to the youngster. Radwanska, a former Wimbledon junior champion, captured her first grass court WTA title by defeating Petrova 6-4, 6-7, 6-4.

In the middle of the first set, the players exchanged a few breaks of serve. The critical difference came at 4-5. Petrova after breaking to get back on serve, leading 40-15, lost the next four points and the set due to brilliant play by the teenager.

Although Petrova possesses a big serve, she aided her opponent’s plight by throwing in a few double faults. But, in the second set despite some initial difficulties, Petrova managed to hold on to her serve. Further, the Russian pounced on whatever second serve came from Radwanska. That tactic along with increasing her first serve percentage and moving forward to finish points at net proved very effective. Petrova was rewarded with a break point and went up 3-1. Yet, in the eight game, with a double fault and missed volley, Petrova’s lead vanished 4-4. Serving to extend the set with a tiebreak, thanks to a net court and an error on the return, Petrova prevented Radwanska from claiming the title. In the tiebreak, the Russian saved three match points. Finally at 11 points all, Nadia served an ace which got her to set point. A weak second serve by Radwanska produced a deep return reply by Petrova, resulting in Agnieszka making an error. Now, it was on to a third set.

Despite Petrova skating on thin ice at times, there were no break chances for either player in the first eight games. The golden opportunity came for Radwanska in the ninth, which she took to get in front 5-4. Then, the Polish teen kept her composure and closed out the match on her service game. Albeit Radwanska won three prior titles this year, as a tier II event, Eastbourne marked the biggest win of her career. Currently, she has a perfect record in finals 4-0.

The only top ten players at Eastbourne Svetlana Kuznetsova and Marion Bartoli, seeded one and two respectively, were upset. The former dispatched in the second round and the latter ousted in the semifinals by Radwanska. Could this be a peak at Agnieszka’s future success next week at Wimbledon? It’s hard to predict. Justine Henin was victorious the last two years at Eastbourne. Yet, the last woman to win both trophies was Jana Novotna in 1998.

The women’s final at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia was played between Serbian Jelena Jankovic, world number 4, and Alize Cornet, an 18 year old French qualifier. Jankovic defended her title by winning 6-2, 6-2.

At the outset of the match, Cornet, who reached her first Tier I final, showed that she had come to play. With Jelena serving, the young French woman had double break point, but she failed to take advantage. After exchanging breaks in the next couple of games, the complexity of the match changed whereby unforced errors began to permeate Cornet’s game giving Jankovic a 5-1 advantage. With some fights still remaining, Cornet broke the Serbian as she served for the first set. But, Jankovic returned the favor in the next game to take the set.

After a running start with a break in the second set, Jankovic briefly relinquished the advantage. Yet, Cornet again gave it right back with a game peppered with errors, 1-4. With a temporary intermission in play with Jelena needing a medical timeout, the distraught French youngster asked to speak to her coach. Disappointed with her poor play and overwhelmed by the magnitude of the moment, Cornet burst into tears during the consultation. After this emotional release, Cornet finally held her serve for the first time in the match. Nonetheless, by that time it was too late. Jankovic was in complete control and went on to win the set.

Despite the final outcome, this was an incredible week for the French teenager who eliminated the number 3 seed, Svetlana Kuznetsova, in the third round after being down a set and a 3-0 in the second. Cornet received a gift from Serena Williams in the quarterfinals, with Serena unable to play due to a back problem. Also, Alize came back from a set down against number 6 seed, Anna Chakvetadze to prevail in the semifinals. With her success this week, Cornet’s ranking catapulted from 34 to 20. Jelena advanced to the finals when Maria Sharapova withdrew from their semifinal match due to a calf strain. In the quarterfinals, Jankovic beat Venus Williams after dominating in the second and third sets. Cornet has had great success on the clay this year with semifinal finishes at Amelia Island and Charleston. As the juniors champion at Roland Garros in 2007, Cornet is well familiar with the red dust. It appears that this year, more than ever, the French spectators will feel that they possibly have a future champion to cheer.