Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic recovered from a set down to outclass local favourite Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the Kremlin Cup final yesterday to win her second title of the season and fourth overall.
The world number 10 switched gears after losing the opening set, dropping only two of the last 14 games in a stunning show to swat aside the 2014 champion.
“It feels unbelievable right now. I still can’t imagine it,” said Bencic, who on Saturday became the eighth and final player to qualify for the season-ending WTA Finals in Shenzhen.
“I had no pressure going into this match. We were so happy yesterday, celebrating (Shenzhen). This is the cherry on top.”
The 22-year-old will make her debut in the WTA Finals, which take place from Oct. 27 to Nov. 3, offering prize money of $14mn. Ash Barty, Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep, Bianca Andreescu, Naomi Osaka, Petra Kvitova and Elina Svitolina are the other qualifiers.
In Luxembourg, former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko proved too strong for defending champion Julia Goerges in the final as she cruised past the German 6-4, 6-1 on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Latvian, who captured her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in 2017, won the third WTA crown of her career with a solid display in her second final of the year.
Just when she looked like she was shedding the inconsistency that has dogged her game in recent months, Ostapenko was beaten by 15-year-old Coco Gauff of the United States in the Linz Open final last week.
But the Luxembourg wild card was in no mood to let another opportunity slip by in her final tournament of the year, sealing the decider on the back of her superb serve.
“Of course it’s great to finish the season with winning a title, especially in the last tournament,” said Ostapenko, who fired six aces and won 83% of points off her first serve.
“I enjoyed this week so much. I think I played really well today. I just like to finish the year this way. Especially after making the final last week, I was much more confident in coming to this tournament.”