Sabalenka aces Wuhan Open; Gasparyan tops in Tashkent
WUHAN: A dominant Aryna Sabalenka thrashed Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 6-3 to win the Wuhan Open title in China on Saturday.
The Belarusian was in commanding form as she cruised to the second WTA title of her career, facing little trouble from Estonia’s Kontaveit who had also turned in impressive performances to reach the final.
The 20th-ranked Sabalenka had often been unplayable this week in Wuhan with her mix of aggression and clever placement, and left Kontaveit flat-footed several times as she raced to take the first set.
Kontaveit, ranked 27th, tried to fight back in the second set, matching Sabalenka game for game until 3-3 when her resistance was broken and the Belarusian took three games on the trot to win the title.
The Minsk-born Sabalenka, who grabbed her first WTA title earlier this year at the Connecticut Open, is projected to climb to a career-best 16th with her victory at the Wuhan Open, a Premier 5 tournament that awards 900 ranking points.
Earlier, Elise Mertens of Belgium and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands beat Czech pair Andrea Hlavackova and Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-3 to take the doubles title.
GASPARYAN CHAMP
Russia’s Margarita Gasparyan beat 17-year-old Anastasia Potapova in the Tashkent Open final on Saturday in the latest step towards reigniting a career stalled by injury.
The 24-year-old Gasparyan, ranked 299, prevailed 6-2, 6-1 in 62 minutes to claim her second career WTA title. Potapova, who is 132nd in the world, made a nervy start losing her first two service games in the first set and the unforced errors kept coming as the match progressed.
The teenager was in tears on the sidelines at one point during a contest that many had expected to be less one-sided after she beat Gasparyan in their first ever meeting earlier this year.
Gasparyan, meanwhile, cried with joy as she celebrated her first WTA title since returning from a career-threatening knee injury that had kept her out of competitive tennis for more than a year.
Gasparyan, who won her first WTA title at Baku Open in 2015, has forged a reputation as a decent doubles player winning three WTA titles over the course of her career so far. TOMIC, FOGNINI IN FINAL
Australian Bernard Tomic reached his first ATP World Tour final in more than two years on Saturday, beating Portugal’s Joao Sousa 6-4 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Chengdu Open in China.
The 25-year-old will face top seed Fabio Fognini in Sunday’s final, after the Italian beat American Taylor Fritz 6-7(5) 6-0 6-3 in the other semi-final.
Tomic, who sent down 12 aces and saved all three break points he faced to beat Sousa in one hour 15 minutes, is finally returning to something like his best tennis after a slump that has seen his ranking drop to 123 in the world.
Fognini, the world number 13, is looking to become the first Italian man to win four ATP tour-level titles in a season, after his victories in Sao Paulo, Bastad and Los Cabos.
He fought back after losing a first set tie-break to Fritz to claim his 40th tour-level win of the season in one hour 49 minutes.
MURRAY ENDS SEASON
Former world number one Andy Murray has brought his truncated season to a premature end, pulling out of the China Open in Beijing after suffering an ankle injury during his quarter-final defeat at the Shenzhen Open.
The 31-year-old Briton is battling to regain top form and fitness following hip surgery in January and said that he was “very sorry” to miss the China Open.
The tournament -- which begins this weekend -- has been hit by several high-profile pull-outs with Rafael Nadal not involved because of injury, Roger Federer saving himself for Shanghai and Serena Williams all absent.
World number three Novak Djokovic is also not involved despite being offered a wildcard.