There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that the women's singles draw in the Davenport City Tennis Championships was arranged for Bridget Reichert to win it all.

After all, the former Virginia Tech standout was seeded No. 1 in the field of 20. Her father, Fred Bruner, was the tournament director and the person who scheduled the matches.

And when was the last time you saw a tournament director give the champion a hug and a kiss after presenting her with the winning hardware?

In all seriousness, Reichert didn't need any help in capturing her fourth title, sweeping through the draw without losing a set and beating No. 2 seed Kirsten Elim 7-5, 6-2 in an 80-minute final yesterday at Byrd Park.

"She's tough," said Elim. "She's a little streaky, which is both good and bad. You kind of hang in there, thinking she might miss that one, but if she gets on a roll, you know you'd better get your running shoes on."

Reichert was more consistent than usual, pounding winners into the corners and down the lines, out of Elim's reach. Except for a brief lapse near the end of the first set, the 26-year-old didn't commit that many unforced errors in defending her title.

"That was kind of my goal," said Reichert, a history teacher at Douglas Freeman High and an assistant coach for the girls' tennis team. "To have long points with her and be consistent. I didn't want to have short points and go for too much. It worked out."

Reichert, who also won back-to-back crowns in 2000-01, was up 4-2 in the opening set before allowing Elim to climb back to 4-all. Reichert took a 5-4 lead, only to have Elim tie it again. Then Reichert closed it out, holding serve in the 12th game after a pair of deuces.

But the winner didn't feel safe even with the first set tucked away.

"I know she's not going away, so I didn't feel any better until the match was over," said Reichert, a former No. 1 player at Douglas Freeman. "She's going to fight for every point. I've played her enough times to know that.

"In the second set, I started going for it a little more, just because I felt like I was up a set and could take more chances. With her, you've got to force the issue or go for it. You also have to pick your spots because she's not going to give you many chances. I don't think she made but three unforced errors the whole match."

Elim, a 40-year-old mother of three, had rallied from a set down to oust fourth-seeded Ginny Wortham in the semfinals, but couldn't duplicate the feat against Reichert.

"She overpowered me," said Elim, who won this tournament in 1994. "She hits the ball much harder than I do. I tried to keep the ball deep, because I knew I had to. Otherwise, if I hit it short, she would pound it in the corner, which she did.

"She didn't miss too many shots. A couple, but not enough to help me. Maybe I didn't put enough pressure on her. I don't think I played aggressive enough on the big points and she did. But she's fun to play. A wonderful sport and has a really good attitude."

In the doubles final, Reichert made it two-for-two when she teamed with Wortham as the No. 2 seed to edge the third-seeded duo of Mason Davis and Kristin Nimitz 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.

Contact John Packett at (804) 649-6313 or jpackett@timesdispatch.com.