Sun Jul 20 08:23:29 2008

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Parmentier wins in Austria

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Bad Gastein, Austria (Sports Network) - Pauline Parmentier of France upended Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka on Sunday to win the Gastein Ladies tennis event.

The fourth-seeded Parmentier, who was meeting Hradecka for the first time in her career, took a 6-4, 6-4, straight set victory and collected $28,000 for her efforts.

Both ladies were coming off a tough road to the final. Rain during the week forced each to play both a quarterfinal and semifinal match on Saturday.

The fourth-seeded Parmentier knocked off crowd favorite Yvonne Meusburger of Austria in the quarterfinals, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, before eliminating top-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary in the semis, 6-4, 6-2.

Meanwhile, Hradecka also sent an Austrian packing in the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph over wild card Patricia Mayr, before toppling Mariya Koryttseva of the Ukraine, 6-3, 6-2.

The victory marks the second career WTA singles final for the 22-year-old Parmentier, who also prevailed in her only other title match, beating Victoria Azarenka in Tashkent last October.

Hradecka was playing in her first singles final. She had been a loser in the first round of each of her first two WTA tournaments this year. The 23-year- old is ranked just 237th in singles, but does have four career doubles titles, including one this year.