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Tennis: Tamira Paszek Wins AEGON Title
DR. ABDUL RUFF
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Tamira Paszek from Austria defeated Angelique Kerber on 23rd June to clinch Championship of the AEGON International (Women's) in London.
Earlier, unseeded Tamira Paszek of Austria rallied to beat defending champion Marion Bartoli 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 and reach the final at Eastbourne on Friday. Paszek was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon last year but had won just two matches this season, losing 11 times in the first round. She played fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber in Saturday's final.
Right-handed Tamira Paszek was born in Durbin, Austria on December 6, 1990 (21 years old). She is a professional tennis player from Austria. As of 8 June 2012, she is the no.1 ranked tennis player from Austria in the WTA ranking, at No. 52.
Playing with smile, Tamira Paszek won her first title since 2006, defeating Bethanie Mattek-Sands 7-6, 2-6, 7-5 in Quebec City to win the event after coming through qualifying. "It's overwhelming. I can't express what I'm feeling," said Paszek, who has suffered injuries and turbulent times over the past couple of years. "I want to thank my family and friends for supporting me during some tough times last year." Mattek was up a break and held two set points in the first set, and also led by a break in the third set.
Her career is impressive. Briefly, she attended Gymnasium Dornbirn-Schoren and Bundesoberstufenrealgymnasium Schoren. As a junior, Paszek was a finalist in the 2005 Girls' Singles Championship at Wimbledon and at the US Open – Girls' Singles in 2006. In September 2005 she won her first title at an ITF tournament in Sofia. In October of the same year she received a wild card to appear at her first WTA tournament in Linz; she defeated Elena Vesnina in the first round and lost to Ana Ivanović after a tough first set. In 2006 she passed qualifications in Istanbul, where she lost in the second round to Catalina Castaño; and in Portorož in the Banka Koper Slovenia Open, where she won her first WTA title by defeating number 6 seed Maria Elena Camerin from Italy 7–5 6–1. This was a career-first Tour singles title in only her third Tour main draw. That title made her the youngest Tour singles titlist in 2006 and the seventh-youngest all-time. She also participated at the Fed Cup for Austria in 2007. She won her first two matches in the group stage against Australia. She debuted on the 2007 US Open, reaching the fourth round, beating on the way #24 and #11 seed, Francesca Schiavone and Patty Schnyder. Paszek decided against defending her title in the Banka Koper Slovenia Open in Portorož, Slovenia, in favor of the larger China Open tournament in Beijing. At Paszek's first grass tournament of her career, she reached the third round in Birmingham. At the 2007 Wimbledon Championships she reached the fourth round after beating two seeded players, No.17 seed Tatiana Golovin and No.12 seed Elena Dementieva.
Paszek was introduced to tennis by her mother, Françoise Paszek, at age four-and-a-half. Her mother is Chilean born, and her father is Ariff Mohamed, who is Tanzanian-born, Kenya-raised and lived in Canada. Both her paternal grandparents are from India. Paszek has already made her mark in tennis.
The 2012 International AEGON adds another feather in her decorative cap. Wimbledon Championships should obviously be her target now.
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