Daniilidou wins Habtoor tennis title

There were tears at the end of a vintage tennis dished out by the Greek qualifier Eleni Daniilidou and Hungarian teenager Aniko Kapros in the $75,000 Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge final.

Eighteen-year-old Daniilidou's eyes moistened as her joy knew no bounds after 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Kapros. The Hungarian couldn't control tears rolling down as her dream of another title this year was dashed after a tough battle that lasted for one hour and 20 minutes last night at the Metropolitan Beach and Resort Club in Mina Siyahi.

For Daniilidou the first major title of her career (with a cheque of $12,000) was a perfect shot in the arm in her bid to relaunch her career after a knee operation put her out of action for almost ten months.

And, she nearly didn't take part in the tournament here. The happy-go-lucky Greek girl was given a wild card entry in the qualifying tournament after she 'forgot to enter'.

It was battle of two players with contrasting styles. Daniilidou relying on her power game of serve and volley while Kapros depending on strong returns from the baseline. It was indeed a fascinating duel as the two indulged in long rallies.

Fortunes favour the brave and it did as Daniilidou didn't hesitate in taking calculated risk while Kapros' uncertainty in going for shots was evident, especially when Daniilidou looked like in command.

"I had to risk, I had to stick to my game of rushing and luckily it worked for me," Daniilidou said later, admitting that she was running the risk of getting beaten by Kapros' strength of hitting passing shots.

Fortunately for Daniilidou and unfortunately for Kapros it didn't happen except for a few occasions. But when it mattered Daniilidou had a winner ready under her sleeves."I think there were long rallies but she (Daniilidou) managed to get winners," Kapros said after the match.

The Hungarian had dream start when she broke Daniilidou in the first game of the match. "I am always a slow starter therefore I wasn't rattled by that early break," said confident Daniilidou.

Kapros' weakness is her service and Daniilidou capitalised on that by pouncing on second serves to hit winners. The Greek girl waited patiently for an opportunity to break back.

And, Kapros obliged her with a double fault in the eighth game to allow Daniilidou level the score at 4-4. That and mobile phone rings in the stands unnerved Kapros (she yelled and asked to switched off phones too) and the Hungarian failed to hold her service in the tenth game to give Daniilidou the first set (6-4 ).

While Kapros, 17, appeared to be cracking under pressure despite the reassuring presence of her father in the stands, Daniilidou turned to her portable MP3 player during breaks to calm her nerves. "I listened to music to relax during the breaks between the games," she said, adding that this was the first time she tried this exercise (of relaxing by listening music), "it worked for me," she said with smile.

In the second set Daniilidou broke Kapros in the sixth game but herself succumbed to a tense moment of finishing off the match in the 11th game. "I was tensed, after all it was my first title chance," pointed out Daniilidou, who earned 73 and half ranking points for this title win.

She held 30-0 lead at 5-3 but Kapros hit back with a superb backhand passing shots after a long rally to break the Greek sensation. That momentary hesitation over and Daniilidou struck back with vengeance in the tenth game to break Kapros without conceding a point.

The guest of honour Sheikh Hasher Maktoum, Director, Dubai Department of Information and host Khalaf Ahmed Al Habtoor presented the prizes after the final.