The Insider Wrap is a weekly recap of everything you need to know from the week that was. This week, WTA Insider looks back at a busy week on the tour as three WTA 250 events took center stage at the Livesport Prague Open, Hungarian Grand Prix and Lausanne Ladies Open .
Performance of the Week: Barbora Krejcikova
The Roland Garros champion continues to wreak havoc and make up for lost time. Coming off her strong Round of 16 showing at Wimbledon, Krejcikova showed her home crowd what she can do, capturing her third title of the season, at the Livesport Prague Open.
It was another dominating week for Krejcikova. She did not lose a set and lost only eight games total from the quarterfinals on, dropping two bagel sets along the way. In an all-Czech final, Krejcikova played beautifully to defeat Tereza Martincova 6-2, 6-0 and take home her first hardcourt title.
The 25-year-old Czech has now won three of her past four tournaments (Prague, Roland Garros, Strasbourg), 20 of her past 21 matches and inches closer to her Top 10 debut, at No.11.
Surprise of the Week: Clara Burel
The 20-year-old advanced to her first WTA final in Lausanne, and she did so by showing the future of French tennis is in good hands. The former junior No.1, who made the finals of the 2018 Australian Open and US Open, defeated three compatriots - including current French No.1 Fiona Ferro and Caroline Garcia - in Lausanne and led eventual champion Tamara Zidansek by a set and a break in the final before her nerves started to settle in.
Burel's run boosts her into the Top 100 for the first time, rising to No.98.
Honor Roll
Tamara Zidansek
Seeded No.1 at the Ladies Open Lausanne, the Slovenian continued her outstanding clay season by capturing her first WTA title, rallying from a set and a break down to defeat Burel 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 in the final.
Zidansek went into the clay season ranked No.93 and will finish it at a career-high No.37. Her clay season began with a final in Bogota, was highlighted by her stunning run to the Roland Garros semifinals, and she now caps it off with her first title.
Yulia Putintseva
It's been a frustrating season for Putintseva, who came into the Hungarian Grand Prix as the top seed but struggling to string together wins. Since the Australian Open, Putintseva had won back-to-back matches at just two events.
Budapest may just kickstart her season. The 25-year-old won her second WTA title, defeating Anna Kalinina 6-4, 6-0 in the final.
Tereza Martincova
The 26-year-old Czech marched her way to her first WTA final without losing a set in Prague, moving her up to a career-high No.67 in the rankings.
Dalma Galfi
Galfi, a junior champion at the 2015 US Open, is still chasing her Top 100 debut but she made good on her home-soil wildcard in Budapest by making her first WTA semifinal. She lost to eventual champion Putintseva in three tough sets.
Porsche Race Leaderboard Update
In Lap 23 of the Porsche Race, Barbora Krejcikova took advantage of being the only player among the PRTS Top 10 to be in action. With yet another title added to her 2021 breakthrough, Krejcikova added 280 points to her tally to overtake Aryna Sabalenka and rise to No.2 on the Porsche Race Leaderboard behind World No.1 and Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty.
Rankings Watch: Krejcikova edges towards Top 10 debut, Burel breaks into Top 100
Notable Numbers
1: Match loss for Barbora Krejcikova since the Mutua Madrid Open. That came to World No.1 Ashleigh Barty at Wimbledon.
6: Women to make their Top 100 debuts so far this season: Clara Burel, Clara Tauson, Tereza Martincova, Maria Camila Osorio Serrano, Liudmila Samsonova and Anhelina Kalinina.
2: Times the Czech Republic has swept the singles and doubles titles this season, doing so at Roland Garros (Krejcikova and Krejcikova/Siniakova) and Prague (Krejcikova and Bouzkova/Hradecka). The only other country to complete the feat was the USA in Palermo (Gauff, Gauff/McNally).
12: First-time WTA champions crowned so far this season. Tamara Zidansek joins the breakthrough list along with
14: Consecutive wins for Anhelina Kalinina across all levels, a streak that ended with her defeat in the Budapest final.
0: Sets lost by Barbora Krejcikova and Tereza Martincova in Prague going into the final.
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![Sara Sorribes Tormo d. [WC] Gao Xinyu 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-5, Beijing R1 (4:15). Sorribes Tormo led 5-1 in the third set, and held off a late comeback attempt by Gao to win the fourth longest match of the Open Era.](https://photoresources.wtatennis.com/photo-resources/2024/09/26/f4607c83-dcf9-4897-9b41-90ae8c384a35/Sorribes-Tormo-R1-ST-2.jpg?width=451&height=268)
