Internazionalo Femminili di Tennis Di Palermo, Italy

Flavia Pennetta has claimed their first International Series tournament victories of the season, putting them in contention for a place at the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions.

Pennetta, who reached the Bali quarter-finals in her last two visits to the Paradise Isle, overcame fellow Italian Sara Errani 6-1 6-2 to lift the Internazionalo Femminili di Tennis Di Palermo title, while Austrian left-hander Bammer had to play two matches in a day as she triumphed 7-6 6-2 over top seed Francesca Schiavone at the ECM Prague Open.

For Pennetta, it was her first tournament victory on home soil, and her seventh career title, and she went through the entire week without the loss of a set. Her victory in the final was sweet revenge for her loss to Errani in last year’s semi-finals, and she also had to overcome two other Italians in the Sicilian city, beating Roberta Vinci in the second round and Tathiana Garbin in the semis.

"I'm really happy about the final today," said Pennetta. "I lost to Sara last year in a very tough match, so when I was going on the court today I was very focused and knew what I had to do to beat someone like her - to keep my mistakes down. It is the first time I've won a title here in Italy, and it's even more special with my family and friends here watching and supporting me."

Tournament: Istanbul Cup International, Istanbul,Turkey

Vera Dushevina became the 21st winner of an International Series event this season and joined the Road to Bali with an overwhelming victory over Lucie Hradecka in the final of the Istanbul Cup.

The Russian took just 41 minutes to sweep her Czech opponent aside, winning 6-0 6-1, to claim the first title of her career. The victory came after she had previously finished as runner-up at Eastbourne in 2005 and twice in Stockholm, in 2007 and 2008. It was the second time this year that her opponent failed to win an International Series final, after she also finished as runner-up in Strasbourg to Aravane Rezai.

It was not only in the final that Dushevina excelled. She lost the least number of games of any player this year en route to a title, giving up just 16 games in the entire week. Until Istanbul, Flavia Pennetta was the leader, with 24 games surrendered in Palermo. The last player to lose less than 16 games was Anna Smashnova, way back in 2005. Dushevina admitted that winning the title was the last thing she had expected.

"Before I came to Istanbul I lost early in Portoroz, and I wasn't very excited about playing again this week," she confessed. "I was upset, and I didn't come here thinking I could win. It was a tough tournament with a lot of top players, so I'm very happy I was able to win the title, especially after playing three finals.

"I was serving very well today. I tried to be aggressive and push forward so she didn't have any chance to attack. If she played better it would have been a much tougher match, but it wasn't easy for me - it was a final. I'm very happy to win my first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title. I've played three finals before this so finally I have a title!"

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The Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions will feature top Tour players and next generation champions competing in an innovative 12 woman round robin singles format, offering $600,000 in prize money. The top 10 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour players who have won at least one International tournament during the year and who are not participating in singles at the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships will qualify for the event, along with two wild cards. The 12-woman event will feature four groups of three players in a round robin format, then a single-elimination semi-finals and final.