New Zealand tennis No.1 Marina Erakovic will have to wait for her first WTA Tour singles title after falling to a straight-sets defeat at the hands of unseeded Swede Sofia Arvidsson in the Memphis International final.
Erakovic, the fourth seed and world No.54, was beaten 6-3 6-4 on Sunday (NZ time) in a match lasting 1hr 24min.
It’s the second time the 23-year-old Aucklander has finished runner-up on the tour, after she lost the title decider in Quebec City last September.
For Arvidsson, the world No.72, the result reinforced Memphis as a happy hunting ground.
She won her one previous title there in 1996, when she beat a 15-year-old Caroline Wozniacki along the way.
She followed up by being a finalist in 2010, losing to Maria Sharapova.
Erakovic and Arvidsson had faced each other once before, with the Aucklander prevailing comfortably in straight sets in Stanford, California, last July.
Six months earlier, the pair had played doubles together at the Auckland Classic, where they reached the final.
Erakovic made a great start, breaking her 28-year-old opponent’s serve in the very first game.
Arvidsson broke back to level at 2-2 and then started to put pressure on Erakovic, who struggled with her serve throughout the match.
The Aucklander saved two break points for 3-3, but another break allowed Arvidsson to serve out the set.
A solitary break in the second set proved enough for the Swede to claim the title.
One consolation for Erakovic is that her performance during the past week is likely to mean she will surpass her career-best of 49 when the new rankings are released next week.