South Africa’s Chanelle Scheepers won her first WTA title yesterday, beating Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Guangzhou Open.
Scheepers, the seventh seed, broke her opponent four times and saved two break points on her own serve.
Scheepers is ranked 73rd in the world, just one spot below -Rybarikova. The Slovakian player had been trying for her second title of the season.
Photo: AFP
Scheepers fought of a match point in the second round and knocked off top-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 in a 3 hour, 23 minute semi-final match on Friday.
She’s the first South African woman to win a title since Amanda Coetzer at Acapulco in 2003.
“The title means a lot to me because I’ve worked so hard, to finally win one is really rewarding,” she said. “Being the first since Amanda is the cherry on the cake.”
KOREA OPEN
AP, SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
Maria-Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain and Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan advanced to the Korea Open final with straight-set wins yesterday.
Martinez Sanchez, the sixth seed, defeated Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-2, in the first semi-final at the Olympic Park and Voskoboeva upset fifth-seeded Polona Hercog of Slovenia in the other match, 6-1, 6-4.
Voskoboeva will be going for her first WTA title in today’s final, while Martinez Sanchez will be aiming for her fifth title overall and second of the year.
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