Magda Linette also clinches her second WTA Tour title as she beats Leonie Kung of Switzerland
Monday 17 February 2020 10:37, UK
Kiki Bertens beat Elena Rybakina 6-1 6-3 to retain the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy on Sunday.
It is the first title of 2020 for the Dutch player, who is eighth in the world rankings. She hit six aces on the way to victory and held serve throughout.
Second-seeded Bertens needed just one hour, 14 minutes to win the final after fighting off a second-set comeback from Rybakina by saving four break points in the opening game.
Bertens ended a 0-3 streak in tour finals to claim her first tournament win since she beat Simona Halep in Madrid in May. Bertens last successfully defended a title in Nuremberg in 2017.
Eighth-seeded Rybakina, from Kazakhstan, was playing her third final of 2020 after a strong start to the season.
The Japanese pairing of Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama came from a set down to beat Alexa Guarachi of Chile and Kaitlyn Christian of the USA 4-6 6-0 (10-3) in the women's doubles final.
Fifth seed Magda Linette ended Swiss qualifier Leonie Kung's dream run with a 6-3 6-2 victory in the Thailand Open final in Hua Hin to claim her second WTA Tour title.
Linette, a semi-finalist in Thailand last year, had dropped just one set heading into the final and she produced another dominant display to reach the top 40 in the WTA rankings for the first time.
The Pole pounced on Kung's second serve and used her variety to dominate the 19-yer-old whose inexperience showed in her maiden WTA final.
"It was so tough today, I had to keep it together to the very end," Linette, who won her first WTA title last year at the Bronx Open, said in a courtside interview.
"I knew I need to be the one leading the game. I knew I have to be really aggressive and I had that confidence from the matches before and I'm really glad that I managed to do what we planned with my coach."
It was still a good week for Kung in her only second main-draw appearance at a WTA event.
"I'm just trying to build up my ranking even more and play day by day and just have fun and enjoy on court," the teenager said.
Australian duo Arina Rodionova and Storm Sander were crowned doubles winners after beating compatriot Ellen Perez and her Austrian partner Barbara Haas 6-3 6-3.
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