Cara Black of Zimbabwe pulled off a shock to
capture her first career WTA Tour singles title at the Big Island Championships
in Hawaii.
Black, who has suffered a final defeat in and 1999 (Santa Clara), made it
third time lucky with a straight sets win over much fancied American Lisa
Raymond.
The 23-year-old Black dominated a tie-break against the second seed after a
evenly contested first-set, 7-2 to go ahead.
And she claimed the crucial break in the second, winning 6-4 to claim the
22,000 US dollars first-prize for winning the hardcourt tournament.
Raymond was going for her second title this year after capturing the Kroger St
Jude Classic in Memphis in February.
Black led 5-2 in the opening set, but the spirited Raymond fought back to
level, before the African won through in the tie-break.
In becoming the first player from Zimbabwe to win a WTA Tour title, Black
said: ``It's unreal. My coach (Brett Stephens) and I were talking about it
during the US Open when I lost there.
``That this week would be a good opportunity to win some matches and maybe win
my first title.
``It shows that if you believe a little and think about it you can do it.
``We had some unbelievable rallies out there and the difference was just one
or two points.
``It just came down to a few points at the end of it and luckily I was the one
who came through.''
As for Raymond she felt the first set tie-break was the match's decisive
moment.
She said: ``If I could have gotten that under my belt maybe I would have
relaxed a little bit.
``Even losing the breaker I felt I could still win the match, but I just
didn't get it done. She served well and she's really scrappy.''
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