Germany’s Annika Beck on Sunday won her second career WTA title, defeating Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Coupe Banque Nationale in Quebec City.
Fifth-seeded Beck had defeated defending champion Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in a lengthy three-setter in the semi-finals, but showed no fatigue in the title match against 18-year-old Ostapenko.
Ostapenko had defeated Beck twice this year, including in the first round of the US Open three weeks ago.
Photo: AP
The Latvian got out to an early break in the first set, but Beck responded by breaking straight back and rolling through the match in 53 minutes.
Beck rose to No. 43 in the rankings with the win, while Ostapenko cracked the top 100 for the first time, improving to No. 77.
KOREA OPEN
Slovakian second seed Anna Schmiedlova yesterday went from a set down to push aside Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the first round of the WTA Korea Open.
Schmiedlova, ranked No. 31 in the world, struggled early in her match, but rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
German players shone in the first round, with Julia Goerges toppling Lara Arruabarrena of Spain 6-1, 6-4, and fifth seed Mona Barthel defeating South Korean wild card Jang Su-jeong 6-0, 7-6 (7/2).
Eighth seed Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium, who had reached her best singles ranking of world No. 46 in June, defeated Andreea Mitu of Romania 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/2) to advance to the second round.
Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova, ranked No. 73 in the world, handed out a 6-1 first-set hammering to Klara Koukalova and was up 2-1 in the second when the Czech player abandoned the match.
Polona Hercog of Slovenia booked her place in the second round with a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 win over Lauren Davis of the US, while Mariana Duque of Colombia defeated Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.
TORAY PAN PACIFIC OPEN
Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland yesterday beat Coco Vandeweghe of the US 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the second round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
The seventh-seeded Radwanska saved five of seven break points en route to ousting Vandeweghe in 1 hour, 26 minutes at Tokyo’s Ariake Coliseum.
Radwanska, who won the Toray Pan Pacific title four years ago, improved to 3-0 against Vandeweghe.
In other first-round matches, Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic overpowered Japan’s Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-2 and Camila Giorgi of Italy outlasted Caroline Garci of France 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.
Defending champion Ana Ivanovic and top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki have first-round byes.
In the first round of the doubles, Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen and Han Xinyun of China were defeated 7-6 (10/8), 6-3 by third-seeded Spanish duo Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro in 1 hour, 25 minutes.
There was also an upset when Japanese pairing Misaki Doi and Kurumi Nara, who were beaten in the final of the Japan Women’s Open on Saturday by Taiwanese sisters Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan, ousted top-seeded US duo Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears 7-5, 6-4 in 1 hour, 24 minutes.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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