Marketa Vondrousova captured her first WTA title since she won Wimbledon in 2023, defeating Xinyu Wang in three sets at the Berlin Open on Sunday.
Vondrousova, a Czech, outlasted Wang 7-6 (10), 4-6, 6-2 on a scorching day in Berlin. The grass-court win signaled, perhaps, the start of a comeback for Vondrousova, who has been hampered by left shoulder issues since winning Wimbledon.
Wang, of China, was playing in her first WTA final.
In the first set, Wang had six set points in the tiebreaker — including four up 6-2 — but Vondrousova fought them off to grab the first set. Unfazed, Wang won the second set, but Vondrousova broke Wang twice in her first three service games in the third set to take a commanding 4-1lead.
Lexus Nottingham Open
McCartney Kessler won her third WTA final and first on grass, defeating Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 7-5 in Nottingham, England.
The players withstood nearly two hours of rain interruptions in the first set of the match — longer than the 94 minutes of play. Kessler is projected to wind up in the Top 40 in the rankings when the list is updated on Monday.
Serving down 5-3 in the second set, Yastremska fought off five match points, then broke Kessler’s serve to even the match. But Kessler came right back with a break of her own to take a 6-5 lead, then serve for the match.
–Field Level Media
