Spanish Woman Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez Wins The Italian Open!!!

Does Spain have a new female tennis star? Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez  of Spain, won the Italian Open today defeating Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 7-6 7-5 in straight sets. Martinez Sanchez wins her first tier one WTA Tour title. Martinez Sanchez also upset Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic  earlier this week.

The first time I ever saw Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez play was when she pushed Serena Williams to three sets at the French Open last year.

I am surprised that  Martinez Sanchez had the mental toughness to beat Jankovic today. In Women’s Tennis, often a lower ranked player will reach a big final and capitulate to the top female player. However, today Martinez Sanchez played the match of her life.

There were a few times Martinez Sanchez did get tight. For instance, Martinez Sanchez she had a 4-1 and a 5-3 lead in the first set but almost let the set slip away. However, in the first set tiebreaker Maria played superb tennis.

In the second set, Maria got tight serving for the match at 5-4 but she broke Jankovic in the tenth game to surge ahead 6-5. Finally, Maria served for the match and held her nerve. I am very impressed!

Martinez Sanchez is the first Spanish woman to win the Italian Open since Conchita Martinez  in 1996. Martinez Sanchez will break into the WTA top 20 for the first time in her career next week. Martinez Sanchez has a very versatile game she is an all court player.

I like Martinez Sanchez’s game she loves to serve and volley, use drop shots, lobs, slices. So many female tennis players are just baseline bashers. Martinez Sanchez she has a lovely game and a lot of talent.