Swede Johanna scoops Barnstaple double

geoff.staddon@archant.co.uk
14 October 2009

JOHANNA Larsson celebrates her victory

THERE was no stopping Swedish player Johanna Larsson as she scooped both the singles and doubles titles at the AEGON Pro-Series women's tennis tournament in Barnstaple.

The world No.242 said she was delighted to have broken her losing sequence in finals after clinching the singles title with a 6-2, 6-2 win over third seed and pre-match favourite Pauline Parmentier of France, having lost her six previous finals.

DOUBLES champions Anna and Johanna and

Just half-an-hour or so later she was on the court again and taking another final success, partnering Britain's Anna Smith to victory in the doubles.

They gained a closely-fought and entertaining 7-5, 6-4 win over defending champions Emma Laine of Finland and Kelly Anderson of South Africa.

After her singles win Larsson said: "I think I played really good yesterday in the semi-finals and I just tried to keep it up today. I felt good in my body and when it's the last day you just want to give it your all. I tried to do that and I'm really happy. It's amazing to break my losing run in finals. It's my first win at this level as well, so I'm really happy about it."

"The support was brilliant. I liked the kids with the Swedish flags, it made me really happy when I saw them and then they were just waving them about during the match."

Following their pairs victory Smith and Larsson said they would celebrate in style - by heading to the nearest MacDonald's treating themselves to some fast food.

An enthusiastic crowd had an excellent final to entertain them, as Laine and Anderson attempted to claim back-to-back doubles titles in North Devon.

But the No.4 seeds eventually came up short against the British/Swedish combination, who pulled off some superb volleys on their way to the win.

Smith said: "In the first set we were a bit passive. They dictated the points and we weren't as aggressive as we could have been. We could have maybe done more with the returns, but somehow we came through. It's always fun playing a final in front of a home crowd. They really got behind both of us, so we had a lot of fun out there.