Player of the week: Maria Jose Martinez

26 years old Spanish player Maria Jose Martinez was a very promising young player back in 2001, but lack of confidence and personal problems kept her away from the Tour for a few years. In 2006 she came back to the Tour and since then she has kept a constant progression reaching her peak this season, when she has captured two WTA titles in Bogota and last week in Bastad.


Unseeded Martinez upsetted 4th seed Kaia Kanepi in the 1st round and defeated Angeline Kerber in the 2nd round, both in straight sets, to get a place in the quarter-final. There she had to face fellow Spanish and clay specialist Carla Suarez. Suarez won the first set but with her serve&volley gamestyle, Martinez managed to come back and win the match in the third set. After defeating Gisela Dulko in the semifinal, Martinez had to face a major challenge in the final, as her opponent was 1st seed and Top-10 Caroline Wozniacki. But as she did throughout the week, Martinez showed a very solid game and held her nerves to win the title by a close 7/5 6/4.


With this victory, Martinez climbed from #54 to #42 in the WTA ranking, but she will surely get higher as she had few points to defend for the rest of the season.