Vandewinkel ‘Flips’ the script, beats Prozorova for title

Pune: It is clear why Hanne Vandewinkel, a 21-year-old promising Belgian, hired former world no. 13 and compatriot Kirsten Flipkens.Flipkens was known more for her craft, especially the slice, than power and that old-school finesse helped her peak with a semifinal appearance at Wimbledon in 2013.
Flippers' signature was written all over Vandewinkel's 7-6 (0), 7-6 (5) victory over the wily Tatiana Prozorova of Russia in the final of the $60,000 ITF women's tennis championships at Deccan Gymkhana on Saturday."I think she (Flipkens) has added value. Also because the way she plays is a bit similar, or, I play similar to her," Vandewinkel, who will rise to 128 in the WTA singles charts, grinned after capturing her 11th career title.It was her first $60K title although she has a WTA 125K trophy from Mexico last year in her cupboard.Flipkens, now 40, hung up her racquet two years ago and coached Karolina Muchova briefly before starting to guide her younger compatriot."You have to find a bit of a different way to beat these girls who don't really have the big strokes. So yeah, it's important to have someone who knows how to technically win matches," Vandewinkel added on the importance of having Flipkens in her coaching team.That technical nous came into play towards the end of second set when serving at 5-6 she went down 0-40. The Bree native then produced a commanding performance to take the next 12 points in a row and the set."I felt like in the rally, she (Prozorova) was just a better player, so I had to go for my serve. And out of the last eight or nine first serves, I made them all," she said. "I just played some very high quality serving tennis. That's what I needed to do, because she was smacking the ball on the rallies, and I was just really on my back foot every single time in the rally. "And I had to find some way, solution to not get into this situation. Luckily, the serves went in."The defending champion then took a medical time-out to receive on-court treatment for a hip strain. As it often happens, she broke Vandewinkel immediately upon restart to go 2-0 up in the second set. "My serve was not so good in the first game of the second set. If you hit second serves, she attacks it, and you're immediately in a defensive position. So just credit to her," Vandewinkel said. "It was really important for me to stay with her and to not let her have a big gap, because she's a very good front runner."Prozorova's rasping backhand crosses and deft drop shots sent the 200-odd crowd into raptures.With the temperature climbing up, the Belgian had additional reason to keep the rallies short. She held her own from the baseline and eventually caught up with Prozorova at 4-4. Vandewinkel then had a match point when the Russian served at 4-5, 30-40, but the latter held.In the tiebreak, Vandewinkel once again raised her game, when 3-5 down, to win clutch points and emerge champion.Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Valentine's day wishes, messages and quotes !