Wickmayer Wins, Is Bali Bound

In front of a crowd of Austrian girls in dirndls, Yanina Wickmayer won her second title of 2009, defeating Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-4 to win the Generali Ladies Open in Linz.

Wickmayer and Kvitova, who both made surprise runs to the second week of the US Open (with Wickmayer making it all the way to the semifinals) both had strong weeks in Austria.  Wickmayer especially was impressive in previous rounds, beating top seed Flavia Pennetta in straight sets in the semifinals to book her spot in the final.

Wickmayer had only played one match between Flushing and Linz (a tough three set loss to Alisa Kleybanova in Beijing), so she's won a very respectable ten of her last twelve. For her to follow up what many saw as a fluke run through a soft draw at the US Open with a title only two tournaments later is a big accomplishment, and definitely validates the top twenty ranking she's achieved on the back of her recent successes.

Her ranking gives her a chance to compete in Bali in a few weeks, and based on recent form it would make sense to call her a favorite at this point.