Lucky loser Sorribes Tormo battles to Cleveland title

Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain battled to her second career WTA singles title on Saturday, fighting back on numerous occasions to clinch a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over No.4 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the Tennis in the Land final.

World No.95 Sorribes Tormo was down a break in the second set and was twice down a break in the third set, but the Spaniard charged back every time in her 2-hour and 27-minute win over 22nd-ranked Alexandrova.

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Words from the winner: "I think I played every match better and better, so it was a very positive week for me and I’m very happy," Sorribes Tormo said afterwards.

"I was trying to find the solutions, because [Alexandrova] was hitting the ball so strong," Sorribes Tormo added.

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Sorribes Tormo said she will "try to keep working, try to fight every match, and the results will arrive. I just have to keep doing the things that my team is telling me, so keep working and keep fighting, same as always."

Fast facts: Sorribes Tormo is the sixth lucky loser to win a singles title in WTA history. Strikingly, three of those six occasions have come this summer alone -- Maria Timofeeva (at Budapest) and Nao Hibino (at Prague) have also won titles as lucky losers within the last two months.

This week, Sorribes Tormo lost to Clara Burel in the final round of qualies, but she was nearly faultless once she got her lucky loser spot. Sorribes Tormo dropped only one set in the main draw -- the first set of Saturday's final.

Former Top 40 player Sorribes Tormo is now 2-0 in WTA singles finals. Her previous title came at the WTA 250 event in Guadalajara in 2021.

Sorribes Tormo is also 2-0 against Alexandrova, who was seeking her fifth career WTA singles title. Sorribes Tormo defeated Alexandrova in Linz qualifying in 2016 as well.

Key moments: Deep, powerful hitting gave Alexandrova a break for 6-4, 3-2 and a commanding advantage in the final. But Sorribes Tormo broke back at love shortly thereafter, leveling the second set at 4-4.

The Spaniard saved a break point to hold for 5-4, then took advantage of Alexandrova's lack of first serves in the following game to win her fourth straight game and steal the second set.

In the third set, Alexandrova cracked more powerful groundstrokes to go up a break at both 2-1 and 4-3. But Sorribes Tormo eventually pulled back on serve each time, then saved a break point with a rally overhead en route to a hold for 5-4.

In the next game, big serves helped Alexandrova save three championship points, but on the fourth, Alexandrova sent a down-the-line backhand wide, and Sorribes Tormo sealed the title.

Doubles thriller: Saturday's doubles final was won by unseeded Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi, who squeaked past No.2 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez 6-4, 6-7(4), [10-8].

Japan's Kato and Indonesia's Sutjiadi were down 7-4 in the match-tiebreak, but they won six of the next seven points to prevail after 1 hour and 47 minutes of play.

It is the second team title for Kato and Sutjiadi, who also won in Auckland in the first week of this season. Overall, Kato and Sutjiadi have each won four WTA doubles titles in their respective careers.