Unseeded Kateryna Bondarenko pulled off a surprise in the finals of the Tashkent Open, beating No. 2 seed Timea Babos, 6-4, 6-4, Saturday to claim the second WTA title of her career. Bondarenko took advantage of Babos’ slow start as she defeated the world No. 52 in one hour and 26 minutes. Bondarenko won the match despite playing two singles matches and a double match Friday due to rain delays. “I was very tired after three matches yesterday, but I told myself it's the last day and I need to give it all I had,” said Bondarenko, per WTAtennis.com, after bagging her second WTA career title and her first since 2008.
Bondarenko is also expected to return to the WTA Top 100 when the latest rankings are released Monday. Babos got a consolation as she and partner Andrea Hlavackova took the doubles crown after beating No.2 seeds Nao Hibino and Oksana Kalashnikova 7-5, 6-4.
Caroline Garcia caps Cinderella week with title
In China, Caroline Garcia defeated Ashleigh Barty in three sets in Saturday’s all-unseeded final to bag the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open title. The Wuhan crown was not only the biggest for Garcia but for any French player since Marion Bartoli won the Wimbledon trophy at the All-England Club in 2013. “Right now, I just feel very happy and proud of my fight of today, proud of all the work we did,” Garcia said, per WTAtennis.com, after beating Barty in two hours and 45 minutes of play.
Overall, Garcia hit eight aces and a total of 32 winners, and broke serve in eight of her 16 chances.
Maria Sharapova avenges loss to Sevastova
In Beijing, former No. 1 Maria Sharapova avenged her US Open loss to Anastasija Sevastova via a hard-earned 7-6(3), 5-7, 7-6(7) win in the first round of the China Open. It took Sharapova three hours and eight minutes to send off No.
16 seed Sevastova. Sharapova allowed three match points to slip from her grasp and had to save a match point before finally emerging victorious. In the second round, Sharapova will take on the winner between qualifier Jennifer Brady and Ekaterina Makarova. In other matches, Simona Halep defeated American Alison Riske, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, while Petra Kvitova beat Kristyna Pliskova, 6-3, 7-5, in their respective first-round assignments.
Meanwhile, former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki officially grabbed a spot in the 2017 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore, which will be played from October 22-29. Wozniacki became the sixth player to join the field, behind Garbiñe Muguruza, Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina, and Venus Williams. Two more spots will be filled in the coming days.
