Fast-food treat for Larsson after she makes fast work of final

By arjones

JOHANNA LARSSON'S hunger took her to a double triumph on AEGON Pro-Series Barnstaple finals day.

Hungry to taste success in a final after six straight defeats, the 21-year-old Swede dispatched Pauline Parmentier 6-2, 6-2 to lift the Dartington Vase as singles champion.

A couple of hours later she was ready to satisfy another appetite after teaming up with Anna Smith to win the doubles, beating Kelly Anderson and Emma Laine 7-5, 6-4.

"Our doubles coach said if we won, he would buy us McDonald's," said Larsson. "So we can celebrate with junk food. Now I have won the singles and doubles, I get to choose whatever I want!"

A double cheeseburger might have been appropriate with Larsson clutching two Dartington glass trophies. But she had already made up her mind.

"I think I'll have Chicken McNuggets and a milkshake," she said. Smith added: "And as we've won, we will probably have some ice cream as well."

The ease with which Larsson brushed aside Parmentier was as surprising as it was popular.

The Frenchwoman was a shadow of the player who dropped just 16 games on her way to the final.

Larsson, who at number 265 in the world was ranked 141 places below her opponent, has needed three sets in both her quarter and semi-finals.

Tired from her exertions in the singles and doubles, Larsson had gone for broke at 6-3 down in her semi against Sofia Arvidsson. That attitude earned 6-0, 6-0 wins in the next two sets and got the fans on her side for the final.

Larsson's tenacity in the rallies saw her take a 4-1 lead in the first set before wrapping up a 6-2 win in 27 minutes.

Crucially, she broke Parmentier in the first game of the second set.

A second serve hit the very top of the net for 0-15, then, on break point, time seemed to stop when a Larsson backhand teetered on the net before dropping on her opponent's side. "There were two points in that game that were really lucky for me," said Larsson.

"It's been amazing. I came here last year and made the quarter-finals (losing to Anne Keothavong) and I was just happy to defend that. Then I stepped it up one more level."

Larsson then helped Smith ensure there was a British champion at the Tarka Tennis Centre for the second year running after Keothavong's singles title in 2008, the number three seeds beating reigning champions Anderson and Laine.

Smith said: "It's always fun playing a final in front of a home crowd. They really got behind both of us."