The final of the Goldwater Women's Tennis Classic at the Phoenix Country Club on Sunday saw Sacha Jones, winner of twenty-four straight matches and Varvara Lepchenko, winner of eighteen consecutive games this week meet on the Stadium Court on a beautiful, sun-kissed 68F Autumn day in Phoenix, Arizona. Only one of these impressive winning streaks would still remain intact at the conclusion of the final, but whose? Varvara Lepchenko will be seeking her first title of 2009 while Sacha Jones looks to secure her twenty-fifth straight match win, fifth consecutive tournament singles titles and sixth title of the year.
In the lead up to the final, Sacha Jones of New Zealand continued her impressive run on the ITF Pro Circuit, winning her twenty-fourth consecutive match by defeating Anna Tatishvili of Georgia in three sets to advance to the final of the inaugural Goldwater Tennis Classic at the Phoenix Country Club. Sacha Jones entered the Goldwater Classic having won the last four tournaments she had entered. This week in Phoenix, Jones dropped only six games in her first three matches and sought to continue her lopsided victory march in the semi final. However, Anna Tatishvili's solid backhand winners were the difference early as she took the opening set 63. Jones lifted her game in the next two sets and once again exhibited the form displayed in the previous three rounds, relying on a solid all court game and dropped only three games in the next two sets to win 36 62 61.
During Friday's quarterfinal match against American Coco Vandeweghe, Lepchenko found herself tied at one set apiece. From that point forward, Lepchenko did not drop a game, winning the third set against Vandeweghe 60. Next, Lepchenko cruised through Saturday's semi final match against Paraguay's Rosana De Los Rios 60 60 in 1 hour 3 minutes to reach the final.
Considering the form that both players had demonstrated throughout the tournament, it came as a surprise to all when the final was over in just forty-seven minutes following a crushing 60 60 win for USA’s Lepchenko. Jones must have felt as if she were hitting against a brick wall as everything she hit came back at her, most of the time with more velocity. Meanwhile, Lepchenko never faced a break point in the match and emphatically ended each set with an ace.
Edited from orginial article kindly submitted by Pete Ziebron (www.tennisacumen.com)