Polona Hercog of Slovenia lost the first seven games of the Sony Swedish Open final against world No.83 Mathilde Johansson, but revived, took the second set and survived her opponent’s surge from 1-5 to 5-all in the third to eventually win 0-6 6-4 7-5, thus defending her Bastad title, where she had won her first and by today only WTA title.
The success is reviving Hercog’s 2012 season, in which she hadn’t won a match in two and a half months. Many first-round losses and withdrawals due to a back injury caused Hercog’s slump in the rankings by 50 spots, to her current No.86.
En route to the title, before Johansson in the final, Hercog defeated Alexandra Panova in the first round, seed No.2 Julia Goerges in the second, Tsvetana Pironkova in the quarters and seed No.7 Mona Barthel in the semis.
The claycourt Bastad title has brought Hercog $37,000.
