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Wozniacki beats Razzano to take Eastbourne title

June 20, 2009 20:20 IST

Teenager Caroline Wozniacki warmed up for Wimbledon with victory in the Eastbourne International grasscourt tournament on Saturday.

The 18-year-old Danish sixth seed, who was Wimbledon junior champion three years ago, beat France's Virginie Razzano 7-6, 7-5 in the final on a chilly, overcast day at the English seaside.

Despite gusting winds, which often made tossing the ball difficult, both women served well and only one point was lost on serve in the first five games.

Razzano, who beat top seed Elena Dementieva of Russia in the second round, then began to make mistakes and Wozniacki broke her with a winning return to go 4-2 up.

The French world number 25 broke back as Wozniacki served for the set at 5-3 and the set went to a tiebreak which the Dane won 7-5 despite Razzano's best efforts at fighting back from 6-1 down.

Razzano had a set point in the 10th game of the second set but Wozniacki got herself out of trouble with an ace and then broke to go 6-5 up.

Wozniacki, who will be seeded ninth at Wimbledon next week, jumped for joy when she thought she had sealed her first matchpoint with an ace but a late call ruled the shot out and Razzano battled on for three more points until she put a soft backhand into the net.

"It's my first title on grass so that means a lot to me," Wozniacki told a news conference. "I wish I could have closed it off a little bit earlier but it doesn't matter how I won so that is the main thing and I am happy."

Source: REUTERS
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