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Big-serving Australian Samantha Stosur retained a title for the first time in her career yesterday with a resounding 7-6, 6-3 victory over Zarina Diyas in the Japan Women’s Open final. |
Top seed Stosur, who has struggled to hit the heights since winning the US Open and reaching a career-high fourth in the world in 2011, was pushed hard in the first set by the fifth-seeded Kazakh, taking it on a tiebreak 9-7.
But Stosur, currently ranked 18th in the world, found her range in the second set to capture her third Japan crown and a sixth singles title on the WTA Tour without dropping a set all week. Stosur, a French Open finalist in 2010, broke a title drought stretching back to July last year in Carlsbad, California. The 30-year-old also reached the semi-finals in Beijing last week where she was beaten by Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.
American Riske wins first WTA title
American Alison Riske won her first WTA title after overpowering Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic in the final of the Tianjin Open in China yesterday.
The 24-year-old Atlanta, Georgia resident blasted away the US Open quarter-finalist with some powerful serves and mean groundstrokes to take a 6-3 6-4 win.
“It’s a huge accomplishment for me to win my first WTA title,” the world number 62 said after downing the 17-year-old, who was also seeking a first WTA title. “I was here by myself, which made it even more special, just to know that I was able to do it by myself. I hope I can keep up the momentum.”
Wawrinka qualifies for ATP World Tour Finals
Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka has become the fourth player to qualify for the end-of-season ATP World Tour Finals, the ATP said in a statement.
The 29-year-old Swiss has enjoyed a career-best season in 2014, winning his maiden Grand Slam title, and he has accumulated enough points to guarantee his participation at the tournament in London in November. He became the fourth player after Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer to make the prestigious event.
“I’m extremely happy to be back in London,” Wawrinka, who qualified for the semi-finals in his only appearance at the tournament last season, said in a statement.
Kei Nishikori, US Open winner Marin Cilic, Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic occupy the last four places in the standings, though David Ferrer, Andy Murray and Grigor Dimitrov still have a realistic chance of qualifying.
Three weeks remain for players to accumulate points to seal their place at the elite eight-player tournament.
