Roberta Vinci wins first grass title on eve of Wimbledon

Roberta Vinci swung her YouTek IG Extreme Pro with precision to win her first grass-court title, taking the honours at the UNICEF Open in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. Timing for the winner could not have been better, with the HEAD racquet rebel defeating Australian Jelena Dokic 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, 7-5 in a comeback just ahead of the Grand Slam start at the All England club.

The title was the fifth for the 28-year-old Italian, who owns three trophies on clay - two of those from Barcelona - and a hard-court honour from Luxembourg last year. She improved to 5-1 in her career in WTA finals and should go into Wimbledon on a career-high ranking of 30th.

Vinci had a solid run on the Dutch grass despite problems with wet weather all week. Vinci booked into the final through upsets of third seed Yanina Wickmayer and No.5 Dominika Cibulkova. "It was a great final and with all of the conditions and pressure, it's not easy to stay completely focused," said Vinci. "But I like to play on grass. I also like volleying so I think that's why I play well on grass."

On the men’s side, Croatian Ivan Dodig claimed a spot in the final where he was finally defeated by Dmitry Tursunov 6-3, 6-2. Dodig (YouTek Radical MP) was bidding for his second career trophy and second of this season after winning in Zagreb in front of his home crowd last February. "It was tough today with all the rain delays," said Dodig after the match. "In the second set, I found my game before the rain started again. But I was really enjoying this tournament, and I'm very happy with the result."