Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic yesterday laid down a marker for the Australian Open with a dominant 6-0, 6-2 win over Daria Kasatkina in the final of the Adelaide International.
Bencic, who will move back into the top 10 after this tournament, overwhelmed the higher-ranked Russian in 67 minutes of almost flawless tennis.
She broke Kasatkina’s first service game and then raced through the opening set as the Russian offered almost no resistance.
Photo: AFP
Kasatkina, the world No. 8, had no answers to the power and depth of Bencic’s groundstrokes, and did not get on the scoreboard until the ninth game of the match.
And although she was able to offer more of a challenge in the second set, Kasatkina could do nothing to stop Bencic claiming her sixth title on the WTA tour.
Bencic said her success this week would help her heading into the Australian Open, which is to begin tomorrow.
“It’s my best result before the Australian Open and I’ve had the most matches going into it,” she said. “It helps me to be confident and to know and believe in myself. This is great, and I won this tournament, but in Melbourne it starts again.”
HOBART INTERNATIONAL
AP, HOBART, Australia
American Lauren Davis yesterday claimed her second WTA title six years after her first, beating Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto 7-6 (7/0), 6-2 in the Hobart International final.
The 29-year-old Davis upset fourth-seeded and 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens in the first round and did not drop a set all week. It was Davis’ first WTA title since winning the Auckland event in 2017.
“We put in a lot of hard work over the off-season, and ... over the past several years. To see the fruition of our hard work paying off is a really good feeling,” Davis said.
Both players were unable to convert several break-point chances in a tense first set before the 84th-ranked Davis ran through the tiebreaker to love. She kept the momentum going in the second set, breaking in the second game.
Cocciaretto, ranked 67th, was playing her first WTA final after a strong run featuring wins over third-seeded Alize Cornet in the first round and former Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin in the semi-finals.
The 21-year-old Italian, who played the match with strapping on her left thigh, but did not appear hampered, faces Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the first round of the Australian Open, which is to begin tomorrow.
Davis becomes the fourth qualifier in the past 11 years to win the trophy in Hobart, following Mona Barthel (2012), Garbine Muguruza (2014) and Elise Mertens (2017).
Davis is to play 54th-ranked Danka Kovinic in the first round of the Australian Open.
The win “gives me a ton of confidence,” Davis said. “I did a really good job of staying disciplined throughout the tournament. Going into next week I honestly feel pretty fresh, I don’t feel too tired at all.”
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