Top seed Caroline Wozniacki won her first title of the year and the 22nd of her career on Sunday when she defeated second seed Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-1, 6-1 in the BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup final.
The former world No. 1 has now won a WTA Tour title every year for the past seven years, winning her first three in 2008, three more in 2009, six in 2010, six in 2011, two in 2012, one last year and now one this year.
“I’m happy to have won my 22nd WTA title — it’s a great feeling,” Wozniacki said.
Photo: Reuters
“I’m happy how the final went today. I served well and pushed her around the court, and I really dictated the match,” she said.
“I tried to play aggressively like always, but made a lot of mistakes,” Vinci said. “It’s tough to play like that against Caroline because she puts everything back in the court and it was tough for me to stay in the rallies today, but I’m happy with my week and Caroline just played much better than me.”
SWEDISH OPEN
AFP, BASTAD, Sweden
Germany’s Mona Barthel won her third career WTA Tour title on Sunday when she claimed the Collector Swedish Open with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) win over South Africa’s Chanelle Scheepers.
Barthel, 23, made the most of an open draw which had seen Serena Williams withdraw and seven of the top eight seeds lose in the first round.
It meant the Bastad event was the first WTA tournament since Hobart in 2009 where no seeds had made the quarter-finals.
“It’s been an amazing week for me — I cannot believe I won the title,” said the world No. 61, whose two previous titles came in Hobart in 2012 and Paris last year.
After letting another big lead slip with an error-strewn performance at the French Open on Wednesday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka felt like getting as far away from the courts as possible. “Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after wasting a lead of a set and two breaks in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to Diana Shnaider in the women’s singles quarter-finals. “We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.” Sabalenka’s wait for a first French Open title continues despite the four-time major winner leading 4-1 in the second set and being two points from victory while
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