Buzarnescu captures first career singles title at San Jose

For a moment as she celebrated her first career title, an emotional, overjoyed Mihaela Buzarnescu stood on the court and made an apology for a tournament missing major star power.

No Serena Williams. No Venus. They each had early exits, leaving no Americans to cheer for Sunday in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic.

“I’m sorry that there was no American in the final but, well, I’m really happy to be on the poster next year so that’s really amazing for me,” she said.

Just with those words, the fifthseeded Romanian drew big applause and chuckles.

Her gracious spirit, steady strokes and entertaining play sure helped, too.

Buzarnescu is a champion at last at age 30, beating 49th-ranked Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-1, 6-0 at San Jose State University.

No. 24-ranked Buzarnescu threw her arms in the air in triumph and hit a ball into the stands Sunday after closing out the match with a 107 mph ace on a day several Romanian flags were held in the stands. She raised her racket, waved and acknowledged those fans, too.

“It really means a lot,” she said. “It means all my work has paid off. It means everything.”

Buzarnescu, a left-hander who ranked No. 142 only a year ago and has come back from two knee surgeries, mixed her shots beautifully with laser groundstrokes to send Sakkari chasing down balls in the corners while adding some slice and drop shots.

She is thrilled to be on the rise at this stage in her topsy-turvy career after considering what her next move would be beyond tennis as her troublesome knees baffled the doctors.

“I just didn’t give up because I had my closest friends and my family who supported me,” Buzarnescu said of reaching this high point. “... Now I believe in it and before I didn’t believe in anything.”