Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska beat rising star Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open yesterday to capture her first WTA Tour title in more than a year and return to the world top 10.
The 26-year-old Radwanska turned in a near flawless display against Bencic, smashing 28 winners past the Swiss teenager to win her second Pan Pacific Open and her first WTA Tour title since last year’s Rogers Cup in Montreal.
“I’m just so, so happy I could really play my best tennis today and this is the first tournament I’ve won twice, so it’s definitely very special for me,” Radwanska said. “I knew I was playing one of the best players in the world, but this is the final and you just want to win, so you do whatever it takes to win every point.”
Photo: Reuters
Bencic beat Radwanska in their only previous meeting, in the final at Eastbourne, England, in June, and was chasing her fourth title this year.
The 18-year-old had been in great form all week, defeating Garbine Muguruza and Caroline Wozniacki on the way to the final, and would have cracked the top 10 herself had she won.
Radwanska is projected to climb from 13th to eighth when the new rankings are released today and move to 10th place in the race for places at the WTA Finals in Singapore.
Photo: EPA
“I’m just so happy to be back in that top 10. It’s very, very tight now,” she said. “There are a lot of young players coming up, so many players who deserve to be top 10, so I’m just happy I can be number eight now. The Asia tour is key for me to go to Singapore, so I think this week I did a great job to give myself a better chance to go back there again.”
KOREA OPEN
Reuters, SEOUL
Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu ended the fairy-tale run of Belarussian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich to win the Korea Open yesterday.
Begu stamped her authority on the final when she reeled off eight games in a row to clinch the first set and lead 5-0 in the second, before sealing a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
“I think the key today was to stay calm and make my opponent run more, and I think I was successful in those. I was also hitting the balls deep and close to the lines,” Begu said. “I also think I was better on the important points — I wasn’t dominating every game, but I did better on the big points.”
The win gave the 25-year-old her second WTA Tour title after she won the Tashkent Open in 2012 and will see her ranking climb to a career-best 26th.
“I’m so happy to win my first WTA title in three years — it’s been a long time and I’ve improved a lot, I think,” she said. “I’ve learned a lot from many matches and many experiences, and most of all I think I’ve become much more consistent when I’m playing. I feel totally different from three years ago.”
Sasnovich had to console herself with her first appearance in a WTA Tour final. The Belarussian had to come through the qualifiers to get into the main draw and had never before made it to the quarter-finals of a WTA Tour event.
WUHAN OPEN
AP, WUHAN, China
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia beat former US Open champion Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-2, 6-1 yesterday in the opening round of the Wuhan Open.
World No. 85 Lucic-Baroni saved all four break points and wrapped up the match in just under an hour against her 22nd-ranked opponent.
Stosur won the US Open in 2011 and also made the final of the French Open in 2010.
In other first-round matches, Varvara Lepchenko of the US was a 6-4, 6-0 winner over Zheng Saisai of China.
World No. 46 Lepchenko, who has yet to win a WTA Tour title, saved four of six break points.
Qualifier Johanna Konta of Britain ousted 13th seed Andrea Petkovic of Germany in straight sets, while Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and CoCo Vandeweghe of the US also advanced.
Maria Sharapova, who has not played since her semi-final loss to Serena Williams at Wimbledon due to a leg injury, is in the Wuhan Open on a wild card.
Sharapova has got a bye and is due to play Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic in the second round.
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