Seventh seed Elena Bovina claimed her second
career title with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Switzerland's Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian
in the final of the Bell Challenge in Quebec.
Bovina captured her first WTA Tour crown in May at Warsaw and was coming off
an impressive run at the US Open. She knocked out world number four Jelena Dokic
in the second round en route to her first Grand Slam quarter-final, where she
pushed Lindsay Davenport to three sets.
The 19-year-old Russian's game has blossomed since she started working with
coach Joe Giuliano in March. She earned 27,000 (#17,400) after defeating
Mikaelian for the second time in as many meetings.
Mikaelian was also seeking her second career tournament victory but could not
pull off a fourth straight upset. The 18-year-old beat top seed Silvia Farina
Elia, third seed Magdalena Maleeva and fifth seed Meghann Shaughnessy on the way
to the final.
``Mikaelian played really well and I tried to keep her away from her tennis so
I could play more of mine,'' said Bovina, the youngest-ever Bell Challenge
champion.
``I did everything I wanted to, so I'm really happy.''