This Sunday we got two first-time WTA titlists as Kazakh Zarina Diyas and Belgian Alison van Uytvanck lifted champion’s trophies at the Japan Women’s Open Tennis and at the Coupe Banque Nationale, respectively.
In a battle of two qualifiers, the world No.100 Diyas beat home favorite Miyu Kato 6-2 7-5, wrapping up a successful run in Tokyo, that also included victories over second seed Zhang Shuai, eighth-seeded compatriot Yulia Putintseva and defending champion Christina McHale. The 2017 edition of Tokyo’s International-level tournament will also stay remembered as the last event in the career of Japanese 46-year-old Kimiko Date, who played as a wildcard and lost to Aleksandra Krunic in the first round 6-0 6-0.
In Quebec City, Canada, seventh seed Alison van Uytvanck recovered from a set down to see off third seed Timea Babos 5-7 6-4 6-1 in the final of the Coupe Banque Nationale. The world No.98 Van Uytvanck saved four set points in the first set, but succumbed to Babos’ fifth opportunity. After fighting off as many as six break points in her first service game of the second set, Van Uytvanck broke Babos’ serve at love in the fifth game and rolled through the rest of the match, especially the deciding set. The triumph will lift the Belgian to the Top 70 in the WTA rankings.
I was really rooting for Zarina Diyas the whole week! What a tournament for her! 🙂
It’s good to see Zarina back, but she was wearing a brace on her left knee. Even though this was a smaller tournament, she did defeat some good players on the way to getting the trophy. Also congrats to Alison as well. They both can get back to playing in the Grand Slam events without having to qualify.
Glad that so talented and strong players found a difficult but right way to get back on track.
I mean Zarina and Kaia