Yanina Wickmayer wins maiden WTA title
Unseeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer and sixth seed Ekaterina Makarova, rivals in the Estoril Open final, were both looking for their first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title while contesting their second Tour final, but Wickmayer won the match 7-5 6-2.
Makarova lost her previous final just one week ago, at Fes. The 19-year-old Wickmayer, on the other hand, hasn’t played a final since June last year, when she lost to Kateryna Bondarenko at Birmingham.
This week Wickmayer won back-to-back Sony Ericsson WTA Tour-level matches for the first time this year. She beat three other seeds en route to the Estoril Open final, including fifth seed Petra Kvitova in the first round, third seed Sorana Cirstea in the quarterfinals and seventh seed Shahar Peer who retired with right foot injury in the semifinals.
At No.88, Wickmayer is currently the top-ranked Belgian; at No.43, Makarova is the Russian No.10. (via Estoril Open)
[...] is less known 19-year-old Yanina Wickmayer, ranked 50th in the world, winner of one WTA title (the 2009 Estoril Open), and former world No.1 Kim Clijsters, who is playing only her third tournament after a [...]
[...] Wickmayer beat Czech Petra Kvitova in the final of the Generali Ladies Linz, thus winning her second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title and ensuring her place in the Top 20 for the first [...]