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A French and Belgian Final by Beth Knizer In the 25 year history of the Direct Line Insurance Womens Championships, there had never been two married finalists competing for the coveted winner's trophy. However, after a three hour rain "break", (Julie Halard-Decugis ahead 2-1 at the time) play resumed. The first set went to a tie-break, Halard winning at 7-4. Halard's game rose another level and she ended up the champion, 7-6(4), 6-4, in 1 hour 36 minutes. This win was Halard's eleventh career title and her third on grass. Halard said, "This is definitely my best singles win in years. I played well the whole week. It was also to a good decision to take the wild card into this tournament after losing so early in Paris (lost to Meghann Shaugnessy of the USA in the first round). I have now won three titles on grass since '98, so perhaps it is a shame that I did not play more on grass earlier in my career." After her first ever Eastbourne tournament and final, van Roost said, "I am very pleased with my week. Obviously beating Lindsay Davenport again was a great win and today both of us played very well, just Julie played the important points better. I will go into Wimbledon with a lot of confidence and I am happy that my game and my mind are back on track after my mother's death in March." In the doubles final, Nathalie Tauziat and Ai Sugiyama defeated top seeded team of Rennae Stubbs and Lisa Raymond 26, 63, 76(3). |