Taiwan’s Lee Ya-hsuan claimed the first WTA Tour title of her career in the doubles at the Dalian Women’s Open in China yesterday, while Japanese seventh seed Misa Eguchi’s bid for the singles title ended in heartbreak when she was forced to retire just two points from victory.
Lee and Kotomi Takahata of Japan cruised to the doubles title, crushing Nicha Lertpitaksinchai of Thailand and Jessy Rompies of Indonesia 6-2, 6-1 in just 54 minutes.
The Taiwanese-Japanese duo saved all three break points they faced and converted five of seven, winning 52 of the 84 points contested to claim the doubles title at the WTA 125k tournament.
Photo courtesy of the Four Pillars Foundation
It was 21-year-old world No. 199 Lee’s first career WTA Tour title. She had previously won five singles and five doubles titles on the ITF Tour.
In the singles final, Kristyna Pliskova won the title when a knee injury forced Eguchi to retire when leading 5-2 in the deciding set.
The seventh seed fought back from a set down to lead 5-7, 6-4, 5-2 and was 0-30 up on Pliskova’s serve when she fell chasing down a ball and took a medical timeout.
The Japanese world No. 119 attempted to continue with strapping on her leg, but buckled under the pain and was taken off the court on a stretcher.
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