Zanevska captures WTA 125 Rouen championship

On Tuesday, Maryna Zanevska was one point away from being eliminated in the first round of the Open Capfinances Rouen Metropole. On Sunday, she became the singles champion.

No.7 seed Zanevska of Belgium defeated No.5 seed Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland 7-6(6), 6-1 in 1 hour and 41 minutes to claim the first WTA 125 title of her career. Zanevska adds this crown to her WTA 250 title from 2021 Gdynia.

"During all the week, I tried to keep myself strong and say ‘No, Maryna, you are not tired, one more match, one more match,’" Zanevska said after her win. "I think tomorrow different things will arrive, but that’s OK, with a trophy I’m happy!"

World No.85 Zanevska was in peril in her first match of the week, where she faced three match points down 5-3 in the third set against former Top 5 player Sara Errani.

But Zanevska overcame that deficit to make it all the way to the final, where she handed World No.90 Golubic her first loss in the Swiss player's three career WTA 125 finals.

In the final, Golubic came back from an early break down and saved a set point at 5-4, forcing Zanevska into a pivotal tiebreak after exactly an hour of play. Errors from the Zanevska racquet contributed to a 5-2 lead in the tiebreak for Golubic.

However, Zanevska battled back once again this week, using sturdy volleys and returns to claw her way back into the breaker. On her third set point at 7-6, a Zanevska forehand forced an error from Golubic, giving the Belgian a one-set lead after 71 grueling minutes.

"It could be a set for her, it was really 50/50," Zanevska said. "[Golubic] played really well, we pushed each other to a really high level. … I made it with all my focus, and tried to be disciplined with my shot selections, tried to be tough in my head, and to just fight until the last point."

Zanevska breezed through the second set, where Golubic never held serve. A backhand passing winner gave Zanevska triple match point at 5-1, and though Golubic saved the first match point with a winning pass of her own, Zanevska closed out the victory on her second chance.

Zanevska won nearly three-quarters of points returning the Golubic second serve, leading to a 5-of-10 conversion rate on break points.

Later on Sunday, the Rouen doubles title went to No.1 seeds Natela Dzalamidze and Kamilla Rakhimova, who beat No.2 seeds Misaki Doi and Oksana Kalashnikova 6-2, 7-5 in 1 hour and 14 minutes.

Top-seeded Dzalamidze and Rakhimova won 68 percent of their first-service points, while also winning nearly half of the points returning Doi and Kalashnikova's first serves.

This is Dzalamidze's third career WTA 125 doubles title; she also won 2016 Taipei and 2018 Mumbai, partnering Veronika Kudermetova both times. Rakhimova is a WTA 125 doubles champion for the first time this week.