Cocciaretto triumphs in Lausanne for first career WTA singles title
No.2 seed Elisabetta Cocciaretto View Profile View Profile of Italy captured the first Hologic WTA Tour singles title of her career on Sunday, overcoming Clara Burel View Profile View Profile of France 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in the Lausanne Ladies Open final.
In a battle between rising 22-year-olds, it was World No.42 Cocciaretto who got the better of 84th-ranked Burel after 2 hours and 43 minutes of clay-court action. With the win, Cocciaretto improved her head-to-head record against Burel to 2-0.
Words from the winner: "I’m super happy to win this title," Cocciaretto said afterwards. "It’s unexpected to me because I came here without expectations, but I’m really, really happy about it. It was an incredible week, a tough week, because I stayed on the court a lot, I [had to] fight a lot.
"Playing five matches here, it’s great. Also, it gives me the motivation to improve. I will go home to rest and take care of my body, because it was really tough this week, and then start to prepare for the [hard-court] season. Every day I’m improving myself outside and inside the court."
Rising to the occasion 📈
— wta (@WTA) July 30, 2023
Elisabetta Cocciaretto View Profile | #LadiesOpenLausanne pic.twitter.com/Dr3C8MRDYN
Back from the brink again: In Sunday's final, Cocciaretto fought back from a break down in the third set, reeling off the last four games in a row from 4-2 down. It proved to be yet another escape the Italian pulled off en route to this week's title.
Photo Gallery: Great Escapes 2023: Winning from match point down
Cocciaretto had previously won two of her matches this week from match point down -- against Celine Naef View Profile View Profile in the first round, and versus Anna Bondar View Profile View Profile in Saturday’s semifinals.
Cocciaretto is the first player to win two matches from match point down at the same tournament since Viktoria Hruncakova View Profile View Profile executed the same feat at 2019 Dubai.
Fast facts: Against 2021 Lausanne runner-up Burel, Cocciaretto had 29 winners to the Frenchwoman's 19. The back-and-forth affair ended with Cocciaretto 5-for-8 on break points, while Burel was a slightly less successful 4-for-9 as she fell to 0-2 in WTA singles finals.
Italian No.1 Cocciaretto extends her breakthrough season at tour level with the title. In January, she reached her first WTA singles final at Hobart, finishing runner-up to Lauren Davis View Profile View Profile .
Their FIRST doubles title together 🏆🏆
— wta (@WTA) July 30, 2023
No.3 seeds Anna Bondar View Profile & @dparry02 are your #LadiesOpenLausanne champions! pic.twitter.com/A2DSZ49gCJ
Doubles final: Anna Bondar View Profile and Diane Parry View Profile each suffered narrow losses in this week's singles semifinals, but they successfully combined their powers to collect the Ladies Open Lausanne doubles title.
Bondar and Parry dispatched Amina Anshba and Anastasia Detiuc 6-2, 6-1 in Sunday's doubles final. The champions converted five of their nine break points during the 58-minute victory.
It is the second WTA doubles title for both Bondar and Parry. Hungary's Bondar also won 2022 Palermo with Kimberley Zimmermann, and France's Parry won Merida this year alongside Caty McNally.