Udvardy returns to winning ways at W60 Cordenons

Panna Udvardy got back to winning ways on the ITF World Tennis Tour on Sunday after securing her second career title at W60 level.

The 23-year-old Hungarian claimed her first title since November at W60 Cordenons, defeating Elina Avanesyan 6-2 6-0 for her 10th ITF singles tournament triumph.

Udvardy enjoyed a meteoric rise up the rankings last year – rising from outside the Top 350 to a career-high No. 81 this May after a season in which she amassed 74 match-wins and took home five titles – including her first W60 triumph at Brasilia in November.

But the efforts of those achievements took their toll, with Udvardy admitting in May that her 2021 workload “really tired me out mentally”.

She opened the 2022 season with a run of seven straight defeats at hard court WTA tournaments and even struggled to find her feet when the tour turned to her favoured clay. Her latest triumph, which saw her climb back into the Top 100 at No. 93 on Monday, suggests that confidence is on the way back.

Udvardy’s younger sister, Luca, is also looking to mark her mark in tennis. The 16-year-old, who admits to phoning Panna before and after every one of her matches, is already benefitting from her elder sister’s advice - finishing runner-up in the girls’ singles event at Wimbledon last month.

Elsewhere on the ITF World Tennis Tour last week, there were standout wins for 18-year-olds Katrina Scott, of USA, Australian Talia Gibson, and Denmark’s Johanne Christine Svendsen, as well as 19-year-old Indonesian Priska Madelyn Nugroho.

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