Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez won the NURNERBERG Gastein Ladies title today for her fourth career title on clay. The Spaniard is yet to win a title on another surface. Her previous three titles include Bogota, Bastad and her astonishing triumph in Rome last year. This year in Rome she fell in the first round though, and actually throughout the season she won only one or two matches per tournament.
In the final of the Gastein Ladies, Martinez Sanchez played Austrian wildcard Patricia Mayr-Achleitner and started off with a 6-0 1-0 lead. The 24-year-old wildcard, first-time WTA finalist, then won four straight games before Martinez Sanchez took charge again and won the match 6-0 7-5.
En route to the trophy, the 54th-ranked Martinez Sanchez defeated Paula Ormaechea, Sandra Zahlavova,Yvonne Meusburger, Kateryna Bondarenko and finally Patricia Mayr-Achleitner.
