Former US Open semi-finalist Yanina Wickmayer yesterday produced a superb fightback to beat Poland’s Magda Linette 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to win the Japan Women’s Open.
The Belgian dug herself out of a hole in Tokyo as she claimed her first title of the year and fourth of her career, closing out the final in a shade under two hours and 10 minutes.
Linette’s bid for a first WTA Tour title began brightly, but her serve buckled under increasing pressure from Wickmayer in the second set and she failed to seriously trouble the Belgian in the decider.
Wickmayer, who reached the 2009 US Open finals, had not won a tournament since 2010, but her form in Tokyo belied her world ranking of 86. Linette came into the match ranked two places higher than her opponent.
Neither player was seeded, the hard-court tournament quickly losing its top players to upset defeats, while sentimental favorite Kimiko Date-Krumm, who turns 45 this month, bowed out in the second round.
TOURNOI DE QUEBEC
Germany’s Annika Beck on Saturday toppled defending champion Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to reach her fourth career final at the Coupe Banque Nationale in Quebec City.
Beck, 21, is to face Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, the 101st-ranked player who qualified for her first WTA final with a 6-4, 6-2 semi-final win over Britain’s Naomi Broady.
Beck, who crushed Czech Lucie Hradecka 6-0, 6-3 in the quarter-finals, held on in a seesaw third-set battle to down Lucic-Baroni, the 33-year-old second seed from Croatia who was favored to repeat as champion after top-seeded Madison Keys of the US pulled out of the event with a wrist injury.
Beck surged ahead in the deciding set, only to falter with the finish line in sight. Up 5-2, she was broken before serving out the match on her second opportunity with a love game.
In Ostapenko, Beck is to face a bright young talent whose junior accomplishments included the Wimbledon junior title last year.
“It’s nice to play the final here and I’m happy,” the 18-year-old Latvian said after subduing the big-serving Broady.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
Sergio Ramos on Tuesday outfoxed two Inter players and artfully headed home the first goal for Monterrey at the FIFA Club World Cup. The 39-year-old Ramos slipped through the penalty area for the score just as he did for so many years in the shirts of Real Madrid and Spain’s national team, with whom he combined smarts, timing and physicality. Ramos’ clever goal and his overall defensive play at the Rose Bowl were major factors in Monterrey’s impressive 1-1 draw against the UEFA Champions League finalists in the clubs’ first match of the tournament. “There is always a joy to contribute to the
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
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