Wickmayer Wins DC Double

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

WASHINGTON, DC, USA – No.7 seed Yanina Wickmayer withstood the tricky conditions at the Citi Open to outlast unseeded American Lauren Davis, 6-4, 6-2 to win her fifth career WTA title.

Eager to shake off a disappointing end to her grass court season – one that saw her lose a heart-breaking three-setter to Karolina Pliskova in the first round of Wimbledon – Wickmayer faced down a row of tough opposition to win her first title of 2016, recovering from a set down to defeat No.4 seed Kristina Mladenovic in the quarterfinals and surviving the extreme heat in the semifinals against fiery No.6 seed Yulia Putintseva.

Across the net was Davis, playing in her first WTA final after outsteadying French Open quarterfinalist Shelby Rogers and No.3 seed Monica Puig in her first two rounds. The 22-year-old American took out two more big hitters in Camila Giorgi and resurgent countrywoman Jessica Pegula to face Wickmayer for the chance to win her maiden WTA title.

It proved not to be for Davis in DC, as Wickmayer broke serve five times and won 67% of second serve return points. The American bravely saved two match points on her serve late in the second set, but Wickmayer made no mistake on her third opportunity, serving out the title in just over 90 minutes.

The win tentatively puts the Belgian star back into the Top 40 and within touching distance for a seed at the US Open; Wickmayer made her major breakthrough in Flushing back in 2009, where she made it all the way to the semifinals.

Wickmayer also struck gold in the doubles final on Saturday, pairing with Monica Niculescu to defeat the all-Japanese pair of Shuko Aoyama and singles quarterfinalist Risa Ozaki, 6-4, 6-3.

More to come…

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