Lisa Raymond successfully defended her Kroger St. Jude Cellular South Cup title with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-2 victory over South Africa's Amanda Coetzer.

Raymond, the No. 2 seed who defeated Alexandra Stevenson in a third set-tie-break last year to win the championship, took just 58 minutes to overcome Coetzer, the No. 3 seed, and claim her fourth WTA Tour trophy.

"I just love playing here," said Raymond. "I love playing on that court, I love the atmosphere and I have a lot of fun when I'm out there. This is two years in a row now where I've felt great out there and I'll certainly be back next year."

Losing Record

Coming into the final, Coetzer had won nine of their previous 12 meetings and when the South African broke Raymond's serve in the opening game of the match, it looked like she could be set for her tenth victory over the American.

But Raymond struck right back and won four games in a row before serving out the first set in 32 minutes.
The second set started in similar fashion with both players trading serves in the opening two games until Raymond broke to love to lead 3-2. She didn't look back, winning seven points in a row before breaking Coetzer's serve for the fifth time in the match, and after her fourth ace brought her match point, she closed it out with a service winner.

"I knew playing Amanda I had to come out very fast," said Raymond. "We have played so many times and every time you know you have to give 100 percent on every point because she chases every ball. I knew I had to get on top of her from the start and I did that today."

Disappointed

Coezter, who was playing in her first final since Amelia Island in 2001, was disappointed not to have collected her ninth career title but was full of praise for her opponent.

"That's one of the best matches I've seen her play against me," said Coetzer. "She swung freely and was going for her shots and put me under a lot of pressure. I felt that if I could have stayed in I, she might have become a little tight and I might have had a chance, but she didn't do that.

"I really respect her game. She has a really nice serve and she started to go for it a bit more and I felt that her confidence was improving as the match went on. But I'm really happy with the way the week has gone for me. I would have loved to have won the title but hopefully I can continue this form in the coming weeks."

Doubles Joy

In the women's doubles final, Japanese duo Akiko Morigami and Saori Obata defeated Alina Jidkova and Brynne Stewart 6-1, 6-1 to win the title.

"We have never won a match before on the WTA and now we've won a tournament," said Morigami. "We really enjoy playing together, we have fun and hopefully we'll keep going this well".