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| 26 May 2003 | |
| Almagro and Krajicek celebrate success |
Boys' top seed Nico Almagro (ESP) and girls' second seed Micheala Krajicek (NED)claimed the Italian Open trophies with straight sets victories.
Almagro, ended the winning streak of his compatriot Daniel Gimeno-Traver 64 64. Watched by over 2000 spectators the two Spaniards fought out a well balanced match with Almagro eventually proving the slightly stronger of the two, both physically and mentally. At 64 54, Almagro served for the match and swiftly fell to a 0-30 deficit giving Gimeno-Traver a chance to get back into the match. However, two deftly delivered aces pulled Almagro out of trouble and he went on to close out the match on his second match point with a killer smash.
The girls' final was a much more topsy turvy affair with Katerina Bohmaova (CZE) racing out to a 5-2 lead in the first set. Despite serving for the set the Czech girl was unable to close it out and let Michaela Krajicek back into the set to force a tie-break. Bohmova once again had a chance to claim the first set with a set point in the tie break, but once again failed to capitalise and the fourteen year old Dutch girl was not about to give her a third chance. Krajicek eventually claimed the upper hand taking the tie break 10-8. From that point Krajicek took charge and Bohmova, probably still rueing her missed opportunities, promptly capitulated, handing the second set and title to Krajicek 76(8) 61.
Gimeno Traver may not be taking home the title but he can comfort himself with the knowledge that his runner up spot will see his ranking climb even further, taking him into the top 5.
Michaela Krajicek has now firmly established herself as the front runner on the circuit now with two grade A titles under her belt. She will now move into the No.2 position in the girls' rankings and a third Grade A title at Roland Garros could take her all the way to the top.
Photos by Francesco Panunzio
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