Rezai wins inaugural Tournament of Champions title

Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai clinched her biggest title to date after she won the inaugural Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions. The tournament, which served as a year-end competition for highest-ranked WTA stars who won an International-level event this year and not were part of the Sony Ericsson Championships, was held in Bali, Indonesia.

The 22-year old won when her opponent and compatriot Marion Bartoli retired after the first set with the former leading 7-5. Bartoli was treated for a strain in the left quadriceps but could no longer continue with the match after losing the first set.
“It’s a great feeling to be here in the final. I’m very sorry for Marion that this happened,” Rezai said after the match.

“I’d prefer to win in a different way, but it’s tennis, a lot of different things happen. The people here are so nice. I was really motivated to win here. I want to thank the sponsors of this tournament and Sony Ericsson, also all the volunteers, the fans who came to support us, the ballboys, the chair umpire, the linesmen… thank you all, you made this tournament great,” she added.

Rezai won $200,000 plus the bragging rights for being the first winner of the tournament. Bartoli settled for $100,000. Both players had clean 3-0 match records prior to the final round.