This week`s WTA 125 tournaments saw Naomi Osaka achieve success by accepting a wild card entry in France. Meanwhile, Dalma Galfi and Bianca Andreescu secured titles at events held in Spain.
Here`s a summary of the action from the clay-court WTA 125 tournaments over the weekend:
Wild Card Entry Pays Off: Osaka Wins Saint Malo
Former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka, representing Japan, claimed her first career WTA 125 title on Sunday. Playing at L`Open 35 de Saint Malo in France, she defeated Slovenia`s Kaja Juvan with a score of 6-1, 7-5.
Osaka is a major champion, having won four Grand Slams and three other Hologic WTA Tour titles. However, this marks her first singles title victory at any level since her triumph at the 2021 Australian Open.
Her dry spell ended this week when she entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed via a wild card. Osaka dropped one set each against French players Diane Parry and Leolia Jeanjean but otherwise navigated the draw without significant trouble.
Interestingly, this wasn`t Osaka`s first WTA 125 final appearance; she was runner-up to Yaroslava Shvedova at the WTA 125 Hua Hin event back in 2015.
Also noteworthy is Kaja Juvan, a former Top 100 player who returned to the tour in January after a year-long break and has already reached a WTA 125 final.
In doubles, the top seeds Maia Lumsden and Makoto Ninomiya claimed the Saint Malo title, defeating the No. 2 seeds Oksana Kalashnikova and Angelica Moratelli 7-5, 6-2 in the final on Saturday.
Galfi Continues Streak, Wins Vic Title
Hungary`s Dalma Galfi secured her second WTA 125 title, having won her first just last month in Oeiras. Now she has won two.
On Saturday, Galfi dominated Rebeka Masarova of Switzerland, winning the Catalonia Open title in Vic, Spain, with a score of 6-3, 6-0. This victory extends Galfi`s current winning streak to 10 matches.
It was a dominant performance from Galfi throughout the week in Vic; she didn`t drop more than four games in any single set.
Galfi, a former junior World No. 1, is arguably playing the best tennis of her professional career. Ranked No. 149 three weeks ago, she is now expected to re-enter the Top 100 in the upcoming PIF WTA Rankings.
Another Grand Slam champion, Bianca Andreescu (2019 US Open winner), also won a title this week by accepting a wild card. She teamed up with Aldila Sutjiadi to win the doubles title in Vic.
In the Catalonia Open doubles final on Friday, Andreescu and Sutjiadi defeated the pairing of Lulu Sun and fellow Grand Slam finalist Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-4.
