Tennis
Cramps crush Li in loss to Jie at all-China Estoril final
By Bill Scott
May 7, 2006, 22:45 GMT

Estoril, Portugal - Jie Zheng won an historic but abbreviated first WTA final between a pair of Chinese women 6-7 (5-7), 7-5 Sunday as good friend Na Li was unable to continue due to cramps at the 647,250-euro Estoril Open.

Jie now stands 4-0 against her compatriot, a frequent practice partner, plus good friend and travelling companion.

The end came suddenly after just over two hours of play, with the 70th-ranked Li unable to take to the court for the final set due to serious cramping in her left leg.

In the men's final, David Nalbandian became the third consecutive Argentine winner as he defeated Russian second seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-4.

Top seed Nalbandian, the 2002 champion, followed on from Juan Chela in 2004 and Gaston Gaudio last year as he kept the trophy in South American hands.

The title was his first since upsetting Roger Federer to win the Masters Cup in Shanghai last November.

The meeting was also the first between the top two seeds since the event was begun in 1990.

'This was my best match of the week,' said the winner. 'I have great memories from here after winning my first-ever title in Estoril.

The winner was drenched with champagne as he prepared to travel to Rome for the Masters event starting Monday.

Davydenko was looking questionable after requiring physiotherapy prior to defeating Carlos Moya in Saturday's semifinals.

But the Russian played gamely for the title, making Nalbandian serve for it twice in the second set.

The women's trophy gives China's Jie a second career title after Hobart in January, 2005.

'It was an honour to play in this final, a very special one for China,' said the winner, who was also awarded a watch worth 1,500 euros. 'I'm happy that I won.

'But I'm sad for my friend, it was a big moment for her also.

'I'm sure we will play many times again. I'm happy to have won the first WTA final between two Chinese.'

Li, was so distressed that she was unable to even hobble to the centre of the court for the prize-giving ceremony.

It was Li's second heartbreak in Estoril after losing the 2005 final to Czech Lucie Safarova.

'It was a huge moment, the biggest of my career,' said Li, whose only title at the WTA level was earned in late 2004 in Guanghou.

'It was huge for Chinese tennis that we were playing for a title. But I came to the court nervous and it just got worse.

'I'm so sorry I had to stop but it was impossible for me. This is such a huge disappointment.'

Li also had to quit in her previous meeting with Jie due to a right ankle sprain in Morocco last spring.

Jie beat her friend in a lower-level final in Beijing in 2004 and also on the way to her 2005 trophy in Hobart in the semifinals.

The first set lasted for almost an hour, with a slow starting pace as three games took 15 minutes to complete.

Li took an early break for 2-1 but lost in in the eighth game, 4-4. She managed to claim the set in a tiebreaker.

The first five games of the second set went against serve as both women began feeling the weight of the occasion for Chinese tennis.

Sixth seed Jie broke the spell as she held for a 4-2 margin, but was thwarted she served for the set, leading 5-5 only to lose serve and a set-point chance in that game.

She broke her rival in the next game for 6-5 and levelled the match a game later before Li was finally unable to play on.