Frech bounces back from US Open qualifying loss with Prague title
Magdalena Frech bounced back from the disappointment of failing to qualify for the US Open by heading to Prague and collecting her first W60 title on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
The 23-year-old Pole, who had fallen to Spaniard Lara Arruabarrena in the opening round of the qualifying tournament in New York, provided the perfect response at the ITF tournament in the Czech capital, winning five matches on the bounce – including a 6-2 6-1 triumph over Tereza Smitkova in the final - to claim her second title of the year.
The world No. 123, who also won the WTA 125k Series title in Concord, USA in early August, has now won the two biggest titles of her career over the past six weeks.
Frech has six career singles titles to her name overall, including a further three at ITF W25 level, following on from her debut tournament triumph at a $10k ITF tournament in Nishi-Tama in 2016.
Beatriz Haddad Maia was also a winner at ITF W60-level last week, claiming her biggest tournament victory since 2017 on Swiss clay at W60 Collonge-Bellerive.
The 25-year-old Brazilian overcame Turkey’s Ipek Oz 5-7 6-1 6-4 in the title match for her fourth title of the year – the second year running she has accumulated four ITF trophies.
There were also wins for Romanian Cristina Dinu at W25 Vienna, Korean Sohyun Park at W25 Marbella and 18-year-old Croatian Tara Wurth, who won her first professional title as a qualifier at W25 Trieste.
Russian teenager Anastasia Zolotareva claimed her second career title at W15 Cairo, 19 months after securing her first at the same venue, while 20-year-old Japanese player Moyuka Uchijima made it back-to-back titles at W15 Monastir.
Frenchwoman Gaelle Desperrier completes the list of women’s winners on the ITF World Tennis Tour this week, winning her first professional title – at the age of 33 – on home soil at W15 Aix-en-Provence.
The ITF World Tennis Tour continues this week with seven tournaments taking place, headlined by another Swiss tournament at W60 Montreux. Follow all the latest here.