Maria triumphs at W100 Bengaluru, wins for Valentova, Sierra
Tatjana Maria picked up where she left off on the ITF World Tennis Tour after winning the title at W100 Bengaluru on Sunday.
The 37-year-old German’s last outing on the World Tennis Tour at the end of November saw her lift the title at W75 Trnava without dropping a set.
After a brief sojourn back to the highest level of the sport - in a first round loss at WTA event in Adelaide and a second round exit at the Australian Open earlier in January - she returned to winning ways at ITF level on Indian hard courts, battling bast Leolia Jeanjean 6-7(0) 6-3 6-4 to win the title.
Maria saw off several rising young talents en route to securing the sixth W100 crown of her career, fending off former junior world No. 1 Petra Marcinko, 20-year-old Thai talent Lanlana Tararudee and former junior world No. 2 Linda Fruhvirtova before outlasting Jeanjean in the final.
View this post on Instagram
“It was a really tricky match,” she said. “I tried to put as many balls back as possible because I knew she was a bit tired. At the end it was a big fight.”
Maria, who was joined by her husband and coach, Charles-Edouard, and two daughters, Charlotte and Cecilia, for the trophy ceremony, climbs 17 spots to No. 73 in the WTA rankings.
Though the oldest player in the WTA Top 500, her wily court craft continues to outfox her rivals.
Elsewhere, there were also significant wins for 17-year-old Czech Tereza Valentova, who claimed her sixth ITF singles title in 12 months with victory at W75 Porto, and 20-year-old Argentine Solana Sierra, who secured her most significant triumph yet at W75 Vero Beach.