Serna defeats Molik in final of Budapest Grand Prix
- Yahoo April 20, 2003
BUDAPEST, Hungary (Ticker) - Second seed Magui Serna of Spain won her second title in as many weeks on Sunday, defeating third-seeded Australian Alicia Molik in three sets in the final of the $110,000 Budapest Grand Prix.
Serna recorded a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 win in 2 hours 18 minutes for her third career title. The 24-year-old Serna won her 10th consecutive match and collected $16,000 for winning this Tier V claycourt event.
"I'm very tired after playing a lot of tennis in the past couple of weeks, but to win two titles in a row I'm obviously playing with a lot of confidence," Serna said. "That definitely helped me today in the final. Because I am playing well, I'm trying different things with my game - different shots and tactics - and these came off today."
Last Sunday, Serna needed just 67 minutes to defeat German qualifier Julia Schruff in the final at Estoril. Serna's only other title came at Estoril last year.
The 22-year-old Molik had won 11 of her previous 13 matches and also was seeking her second title of the year after winning the first one of her career on the hard court at Hobart in January. Last week, Molik lost to Russian Anastasia Myskina in the final at Sarasota.
"I played my best teoday, but Magui was just tood good when it mattered most," Molik said. "I've got to be happy with my week here, and more so the past few weeks. Clay isn't necessarily my strongest surface, but I just continue to play my game, and I think it holds up well whether I'm playing on hard courts, grass or clay, as I've shown in the past few weeks."
Molik had won her previous four matches in straight sets and was facing Serna for the first time.
"Full credit to Magui - the second set was so tight and she was very tough at that stage of the match," Molik added. "I'm really happy with my form at the moment and I'm looking forward to see how well I can do for the rest of the clay season."
Serna captures title in Portugal
WTA tour - April 13, 2003
Estoril, Portugal (Sports Network) - Spaniard Magui Serna defeated German qualifier Julia Schruff in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, Sunday to win her second straight championship at the $140,000 Estoril Open. The match lasted one hour and seven minutes.
The second-seeded Serna, who crushed No. 3 Virginie Razzano, 6-0, 6-1, Saturday to gain a berth in the final, pocketed $22,000 for her victory.
Serna, who collected her second WTA Tour title, topped Anca Barna in last year's final.
The 20-year-old Schruff advanced to the final in her debut WTA Tour event. She failed to become the seventh woman in professional tennis history to win her debut WTA Tour event.
Shruff was unable to become the first qualifier to win a WTA Tour singles title since Svetlana Kuznetsova at Helsinki in August 2002.
PROFILE
- thanks to Cristina - La Página de Magüi
Don't be deceived by the shy grin and unassuming attitude of Magüi Serna, for inside lies the heart of a fighter. A scrappy player much in the style of countrywoman, Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario, Serna has had impressive results on all surfaces, with the red clay of Europe among her favorite. The list of victims on her tennis resume continues to grow with names like Steffi Graf, Jana Novotna, Mary Pierce and Patty Schnyder.
Born in the Islas Canarias (Canary Islands), a territory of Spain which lies off the coast of Morocco, Serna has seen her family make numerous sacrifices to allow her to follow her dream of becoming a professional athlete.
These concessions have resulted in an extremely tight knit family structure.
At the age of 12, Magüi was offered coaching from Eric Van Harpen but at the time she did not want to leave her family. However, a year later, she made the decision to leave the comfort of home to train with Van Harpen in Switzerland. Her mother and sister went with her while her two older brothers moved to Madrid to study and her father remained in Gran Canaria. Within a year Van Harpen moved to Barcelona, Spain to work with Conchita Martínez. Magüi followed Van Harpen with her mother and sister in tow. Magüi has established herself in the seven years since leaving home.
She is no longer coached by Van Harpen, and while her mother still travels with her to some events, Magüi is more independent now. She is currently enrolled in a university program in Barcelona. She is majoring in Sport Management. She is able to do the majority of her school work via correspondence and is on track to complete the four year program in two more years.
She plans to take the final year of classes in English so as to obtain the equivalent degree from a university in England. Magüi has taken advantage of her sibling's business and law degrees to assist her in Sport Law, Marketing and Public Relations classes.
Serna cherishes her now rare visits to the Islas Canarias. She finds her "celebrity" status at home to be a treat as those following the international tennis circuit still struggle to pronounce her name.
For a time she was perhaps best known as the player who kept changing her name, eventually exchanging her given name of María Luisa for her nickname of Magüi, pronounced like the island in Hawaii.
After last year's successful KB FED CUP campaign she is gaining more recognition in Spain, and the confidence which has seen her improve her ranking to a career high of No. 22 earlier this year.
Look for Magüi Serna to add to her already impressive results on the clay this Spring.
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