Paolini claims maiden WTA title in Portoroz
PORTOROZ: Italy’s Jasmine Paolini claimed her maiden WTA title on Sunday with a straight-sets victory over third seed Alison Riske of the US in the Portoroz final.
The 25-year-old Italian, 87 in the world, triumphed 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 over her 38th-ranked opponent ater an hour and 45 minutes of play.
“I think it’s been an amazing week here in Portoroz,” Paolini said, ater the match. “I feel just very happy, it’s a big achievement for me, to win my first title. On hardcourts, it’s special.”
Paolini knocked out four seeded players during the event, including No.6 seed Dayana Yastremska in the opening round, No.4 seed Sorana Cirstea in the quarter-finals, and No.2 seed Yulia Putintseva in the semi-finals. The Italian defeated three Top 50 players consecutively in her final three matches this week, according to WTA.
“It wasn’t easy to go through to the final,” Paolini said. “I’m proud of myself because I never gave up.”
Two-time WTA singles titlist Riske, a former Top 20 player, was unable to convert her big opening-set lead into another title, as she fell to 2-8 in WTA singles finals during her career.
Paolini had only two more winners than Riske in the clash, but the major difference was in the unforced error count, where Riske outpaced Paolini by 44 to 33. Paolini won exactly two-thirds of Riske’s second-service points, helping her convert six of her 10 break points on the day.
The match began nearly three hours late due to persistent rain showers, but once the players hit the court, it was Riske who initially held the upper hand. The American eased to a 5-2 lead, helped along by some beautiful backhands at key moments.
OSAKA DROPS OUT OF TOP FIVE : Naomi Osaka slipped out of the top five in the WTA rankings on Monday while Simona Halep, another former world number one, continued her slide by also dropping three places.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka fell from fith to eighth as Halep, who married boyfriend Toni Iuruc last week in a civil ceremony in her hometown of Constanta, tumbled down to 14th.
Ashleigh Barty remains top and French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova climbed to a career high of fith.
Danish teenager Clara Tauson rose 18 places to 52nd ater capturing her second title of the year in Luxembourg.
Italy’s Jasmine Paolini jumped from 87th to 64th following her first WTA title at Portoroz, Slovenia.