Hercog takes W60 Oeiras crown after Burel concedes final
Top seed Polona Hercog claimed her first professional title in two years despite playing just three matches in last week’s headline tournament on the ITF World Tennis Tour at W60 Oeiras.
The 30-year-old Slovenian, who benefitted from a bye in the first round and a walkover in the second when Ekaterine Gorgodze withdrew ahead of the match, was handed a second walkover of the week in the final after Clara Burel was forced to pull out with ankle trouble.
“I am very happy to have managed to win the tournament, although it was not the end I was hoping for,” said Hercog. “Yesterday was a hard day for everyone and we were all very tired and with some physical problems, but I hope it is nothing serious. I wish Clara the best, who had a great week.”
Former junior world No. 1 Burel had beaten both Francesca Jones and Georgina Garcia-Perez in the same day on Saturday in a weather-affected schedule, but admitted she had no choice but to concede the final.
“Yesterday was a very long day, with two big matches, and I was unable to recover,” said the 20-year-old Frenchwoman. “My body was not feeling well, so I preferred to give up the final. It was not an easy decision to make, but it was the best one.
“Today, I realised that I was not going to be able to play. During the night I had a lot of pain and when I woke up it got worse, so I realised that I was not going to be able to enter the court.”
Sixteen-year-old Anastasiya Konstantinovna Soboleva secured a milestone victory at W15 Antalya – winning her first professional singles title in just her sixth tournament appearance on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
The Ukrainian, who has won two titles at J5 level on the ITF Junior tour, won eight matches in a row – including seven in straight sets and a 6-0 7-6(5) win over Nuria Brancaccio in the title match - to come through qualifying and secure her landmark win.
Valeria Savinykh collected her eighth ITF title – and first since August 2019 – after winning on French soil at W25+H Calvi.
The 30-year-old Russian, who qualified for this year’s Australian Open to make her first appearance at a Grand Slam since 2013, made another positive step in 2021 after defeating Switzerland’s Susan Bandecchi 6-1 6-4 in the final.
Savinykh’s compatriot, 18-year-old Elina Avanesyan, was also amongst last week’s winners, claiming her second ITF title at W15 Cairo.
Avanesyan, who was a runner-up at the Cairo tournament earlier this year, made no mistake with her second opportunity – beating Eri Shimizu 6-1 6-0 in the final to add to her win at W15 Shymkent in 2019.
Despite Bandecchi’s defeat at W25+h Calvi, Switzerland could celebrate a title winner last week after 20-year-old Joanne Zuger won at W15 Monastir.
Zuger battled to a 7-6(4) 5-7 7-6(5) win over Magali Kempen in the final of the Tunisian tournament to add a second ITF singles title to her collection.
Jessie Aney continued her career-best form in Kazakhstan, winning the title at W15 Shymkent for the second week in a row.
The 22-year-old American defeated Serbian Tamara Curovic 5-7 7-6(6) 6-0 in the final of the clay court tournament and promptly leapt 77 places to a new career-high ranking of No. 701.