Sherif Makes History
Mayar Sherif became the first Egyptian woman to win a title on the WTA Tour, overcoming No. 1 seed, Maria Sakkari 7-5, 6-3 in the final of the Parma Ladies Open.
World No. 74, Sherif, was made to work for her maiden title, being forced to play both her semi-final and final on the same day after rain caused havoc with the schedule.
"I'm exhausted," Sherif said.
"Today was a very tough day for me, many hours on court. I'm very happy that I pulled it off. I had to dig very deep."
Sakkari got off to the perfect start, racing out to a 2-0 lead in the opening set. Sherif fought back to break Sakkari four times in the opening set, claiming the opening set despite Sakkari having two game points in the 12th game of the set.
Just like the first set, Sakkari earned an early break of serve only for Sherif to immediately break back. Sherif managed to win four out of the next five games to seal a historic title.
"It means a lot for my country," Sherif said post-match.
"It means a lot for the people back home, my family, all the hard work, all the mental struggles in the last weeks. I am just thrilled and happy. This was never expected."
Sherif will rise to No. 48 in the WTA rankings, four places off her career-high ranking.
Krejcikova Breaks Her Title Drought
Barbora Krejcikova defeated hometown favourite Anett Kontaveit 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the inaugural Tallinn Open.
Krejcikova’s triumph is her first title on the WTA Tour in over a year.
2022 had been a difficult year for Krejcikova. After a breakthrough year in 2021 where she won three titles, including a maiden Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, she had not made a final since January.
Kontaveit had a boisterous crowd cheering her on but it was Krejcikova who broke first to take a 4-2 lead in the opening set. Krejcikova broke again two games later to breeze through the first set.
The second set was evenly poised at 3-3 after both players exchanged early breaks of serve. Krejcikova’s groundstrokes proved too much for the No. 1 seed as she raced through the next three games to claim the title.
Krejcikova was dominant on serve, winning 71.7% of points on her serve compared to Kontaveit’s 45.5%.
Post-match, Krejcikova was thrilled to once again win a title on the WTA Tour.
"Really proud how I was able to bring my best performance for the final," Krejcikova said.
"I was expecting that Anett is going to play fast and she would try to put me under pressure from the first point. So, I was just trying to play my game, and just trying to eliminate that.”
After her first title of the year, Krejcikova will rise 4 places to No. 23 in the WTA rankings.