Jabeur grabs title
Berlin, June 19: Top seed Ons Jabeur won the final of the WTA tournament in Berlin on Sunday after Olympic champion Belinda Bencic was forced to retire after twisting her left ankle.
Bencic slipped at the end of the first set and despite receiving treatment, she eventually retired with Jabeur leading 6-3, 2-1.
Jabeur had raced into a 30 lead after just nine minutes before going on to win the third WTA title of her career after wins on grass last year in Birmingham and on clay in Madrid last month.
“From what I know of Belinda, she would have taken me to three sets today,” said Jabeur, who wished her opponent a speedy recovery with the season’s third Grand Slam Wimbledon due to start in a week’s time. “The most important thing for me is that she is okay,” she added.
BRAZIL’S HADDAD MAIA WINS BIRMINGHAM FINAL
Meanwhile, Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia won her second title in seven days after Zhang Shuai retired in the final of the WTA Birmingham Classic on Sunday.
Haddad Mai was 5-4 up in the first when her Chinese opponent indicated she could no longer play on.
Both players had come through tough semi-finals earlier on Sunday after rain had washed out Saturday’s play at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham, central England.
Haddad Maia has now won her last 10 grass-court matches, having lifted the trophy at the Nottingham Open on June 12.
The 26-year-old has yet to get beyond the third round at Wimbledon, but her recent form will leave Haddad Maia hopeful of an improved showing when the last of tennis’s four majors played on grass starts in eight days’ time.
Earier, Maia defeated former Wimbledon champion Simona Halep 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in a hard-fought semifinal.
The 26-year-old Maia needed a gruelling two hours and 16 minutes to see off 2019 Wimbledon champion Halep.
She twice came back from a break down in the opening set before reeling off four games in a row to end the contest and extend her winning streak to nine matches.
Halep, who did not defend her Wimbledon title last year (the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic) after injuring her calf, suffered two heavy falls during the first set and twice received treatment on her right thigh.
But she recovered to win the second set, with a superb backhand allowing her to break the serve of Haddad Maia.
The third set was a closer contest, with both players squandering a break before Haddad Maia edged ahead.
Zhang, who will also play in the Birmingham doubles final alongside Elise Mertens, came from a break down in the final set.
Cirstea was also 5-4 ahead in the ensuing tiebreak before Zhang won three points in a row to book her place in the final.
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