Toronto, Canada – AUCKLAND (Reuters) - Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer upset top seed Flavia Pennetta 6-3 6-2 in the final of the Auckland Classic on Saturday to complete a remarkable return to the courts after having a doping ban overturned.
Wickmayer, granted a wild card for the event after a court overturned a one-year ban imposed when she fell foul of the Belgian doping authority's "whereabouts rule," overpowered the Italian with a powerful serve and blistering groundstrokes.
The 20-year-old made an inauspicious start when she double faulted on the first service point of the match but fought back from a 1-3 deficit in the first set and broke the 12th ranked Pennetta twice to go 1-0 up in 39 minutes.
She retained her momentum, despite a slight blip when she was broken in her first service game of the second set, to win the final five games of the match, clinching victory when a Pennetta forehand went into the net.
(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury; Editing by Nick Mulvenney)
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.