Budapest: Hungarian Grand Prix
Top-seed Diana Shnaider from Russia won her 3rd title on the WTA Tour this year, all on different surfaces, when she defeated Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 6-4 6-4, in the final of the WTA 250 Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest on Sunday.
It was a really tough match, because I think she’s an amazing player. She volleys really well. And then she has a tough drop-shot for me. There [were] lot of ups and downs. I [was] trying to be more aggressive in the third set, and I’m happy that worked out. Zheng Qinwen
“It was a great match,” Shnaider said after her win. “I enjoyed playing that, and there was some exciting rallies, so I hope people also enjoyed watching that. I think it’s always nice that it’s not easy, and we’re pushing each other to the limits.”
20-year old Shnaider needed 95 minutes to overcome Sasnovich on the clay court, after capturing her first tour title in February on the hard courts of Hua Hin, Thailand, and then winning again on the grass of Bad Homburg, Germany, in June.
In so doing, she became the first woman to win titles on every surface in the same year since Caroline Garcia in 2022. and the youngest player to do so since Caroline Wozniacki, in 2009, who was then 19.
“All of the titles are like the first one,” Shnaider said. “I feel, like, I’m always gonna be enjoying it like the first one.”
In the first set of Sunday’s final, Shnaider’s down-the-line winners outpaced Sasnovich’s relatively frequent forays into the forecourt, and the Belarusian was unable to hold serve until 5-2.
At 5-4, the top seed used her powerful forehand to break for the one-set lead.
Shnaider let a 2-0 second-set lead disappear as Sasnovich’s serving and ground game improved down the stretch and she moved ahead by a break at 4-3, but that would be the last time the unseeded player would win a game.
The Russian powered back to lead 5-4, where a fiery forehand service return lined up her first championship point, and when Sasnovich sent a backhand wide, Shnaider wrapped up her all-surface sweep with her first career clay-court title.
Shnaider converted 7 of her 9 break points on the day, denying Sasnovich a long-awaited first WTA singles title.
The former Top 30 player, who is now ranked 134, reached her first final in 2015 and has 5 runner-up finishes to her name.
Shnaider has risen up the world rankings over the past 12 months from No 110 to 28 leading into Budapest, and she is now projected to reach a career-high of 22.
“I’m very happy that I [won] it,” Shnaider said. “It’s an unbelievable season going so far for me.”
Hungarian fans saw a home player win the doubles title on Saturday, when Budapest-born Fanny Stollar teamed up with Poland’s Katarzyna Piter to defend their title, edging past Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina & Irina Khromacheva from Russia, the No 2 seeds, 6-3 3-6 [10-3], in the doubles final.
Reigning champions Piter & Stollar took 74 minutes to land the title, repeating their victory from last year after winning their first 3 matches in straight sets before clinching the title with a match tiebreak.
Stollar has won all 4 of her WTA doubles titles in her hometown and nation’s capital, having also won in Budapest in 2018 with Georgina García Pérez, and in 2021 with Mihaela Buzarnescu.
As for Piter, this is her 3rd career WTA doubles title, having also won 2013 Palermo with Kristina Mladenovic.
WTAtennis.com
Palermo Ladies Open
Top seed Zheng Qinwen China outlasted Karolina Muchova, the No 2 seed from the Czech Republic, 6-4 4-6 6-2, after 2 hours and 49 minutes to successfully defend her title at the WTA 250 Palermo Ladies Open in Italy.
“It was a really tough match, because I think she’s an amazing player,” Zheng said afterwards. “She volleys really well. And then she has a tough drop-shot for me.
“There [were] lot of ups and downs. I [was] trying to be more aggressive in the third set, and I’m happy that worked out.”
It was the Chinese’s 10th consecutive win at the tournament on the island of Sicily, and her 3rd career WTA singles title, having also won in Zhengzhou last year.
Muchova, a former Top 10 player and the 2023 Roland Garros runner-up, had defeated Zheng in their only previous meeting, a 1-6 6-3 6-4 clash on clay at 2022 Madrid, and was hoping to repeat the feat for her second career title, in just her third event back on tour since ending a 10-month injury hiatus, having been side-lined with a wrist injury since last year’s US Open.
Zheng, though, who is currently ranked at a career-high of World No 7, now has an 11-1 career win-loss record in Palermo, with her only loss at the tournament coming at the hands of Jaqueline Cristian in the 2022 second round.
“I feel, you know, this place has been really special for me,” Zheng said. “I’ve had a lot of great performances here.”
Zheng made it into the championship match without the loss of a set, reaching her first final since her maiden Grand Slam final at this year’s Australian Open, but she had to fight back from a break down on two separate occasions in the first set, before prevailing in multiple rallies at 5-4 to break for the one-set lead.
Muchova’s drop-shot skills helped the Czech build a hefty 4-1 lead in the second, and, at 5-4, she erased 4 break points and levelled proceedings.
In her first deciding set of the week, Zheng grabbed the early advantage by breaking for 2-0 with a forehand winner down the line, but Muchova got herself back on serve at 3-2 after slamming an incredible crosscourt forehand winner on break point.
The top seed took control for good shortly thereafter, converting her 5th break point in the following game to move ahead 4-2, and eased home from there, finishing the match just ahead of Muchova in winners by 28 to 24.
Although Muchova saved 12 of 19 break points, she had to deal with Zheng’s 6 aces.
The Palermo doubles title went to the No 1-seeds, Alexandra Panova & Yana Sizikova from Russia, who squeaked past the wild-card pairing of Spain’s Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers & Aurora Zantedeschi from Italy, 4-6 6-3 [10-5], in Saturday’s final.
Panova & Sizikova needed slightly less than 2 hours to prevail, denying the Sicilian crowds a potential Italian doubles champion in Zantedeschi.
This is Sizikova’s 2nd straight Palermo title, having won last year alongside Kimberley Zimmermann, and, overall, her 6th career WTA doubles title.
Panova is now a 9-time doubles champion on the WTA Tour, with her first doubles title coming back in 2010, while she reached her first 2 Grand Slam doubles quarter-finals this year at the Australian Open (with Cristina Bucsa) and Roland Garros (with Giuliana Olmos).
