Daria Gavrilova, 23, has made a complete run at New Haven in Connecticut in what went down as her first ever WTA level title. She has been roaming for several years inside the WTA professional circuit, and the breakthrough came without warning. Defeating Dominika Cibulkova in the final will establish the Aussie No. 1 female player as a threat for any other WTA contender. Currently ranked 20th in the world, Gavrilova seems eager to take the burden away from Samantha Stosur's shoulders. At 33 years of age, Stosur, a former US Open champion may not have that much fuel left in the tank.
Moreover, Gavrilova put in a serious statement showing that her win over the defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska in the previous round was a random act at all.
Gabrilova had to recover after losing the first set
A Premier level event, the WTA tournament held in Connecticut produced a solid week of the tennis as a proper final warm-up before 2017 US Open Tennis Championships. Entering the final, Cibulkova was leading Gavrilova by 1-0 winning their sole meeting at Wimbledon back in 2016. With that upper hand under her belt and with a superior, more experienced posture the 28-year-old Slovak went on winning the inaugural set by a tight margin. It was 6-4 after Cibulkova managed to survive some tight games toward the end.
It seemed that the highest ranked player and the second was heading to the title.
On the other side of the net, Gavrilova was not ready to surrender. The second set saw her keeping her service on each of the occasions, while her opponent started to struggle. Breaking Cibulkova twice endured a solid 6-3 set of tennis for the 23-year-old Aussie who pushed the final into a decider.
Both players delivered a high-quality third act, and, in the end, the gap was pretty small. The overall statistics show Gavrilova winning 105 points compared to 102 of Cibulkova. It was indeed a tight margin but just enough for Gavrilova to win her first WTA title.
US Open is coming next
Those players who aim a big, deeper run at US Open are usually skipping past New Haven event.
But, for others, it the ultimate reason for joy. Gavrilova is the living proof of that statement as she wasn;t able to contain her level of excitement as the title landed in her lap.
On the other side, 2017 runner-up Dominika Cibulkova will enter US Open having high expectations. 2016 Singapore winner must find a way to reach her peak level again. And US Open is a place to start that climb. it'll be interesting to watch it the toll New Haven required was enough to stop its 2017 finalists from having a decent run in New York.
