16-year old Nicole Vaidisova won her second title in two
weeks at the Japan Open.
The second seed from the Czech Republic, Vaidisova captured the women's
championship when 17-year-old Tatiana Golovin of France retired midway through
the second set with left ankle tendinitis.
Looking for her fourth career WTA title and first since winning at Seoul on
September 25, Vaidisova took the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-4) and was
leading 3-2 in the second when the third-seeded Golovin said she could not
continue.
In their only previous meeting, Vaidisova defeated Golovin in three sets in
the round of 16 here last year before losing in the quarter-finals to
fellow-Czech Klara Koukalova.
The final was the youngest in terms of combined age on the WTA Tour this year
(34 years, one month) and the seventh-youngest in tour history.
Last year, when Golovin was 16, she lost to 17-year old Maria Sharapova at
Birmingham, England.