Siniakova, Boisson win marathon finals to capture WTA 125 clay-court titles

Sunday was a grueling but triumphant day for Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and French wild card Loïs Boisson, who each won the first WTA 125 singles titles of their respective careers after nearly three-hour affairs.

At the Catalonia Open in Lleida, Spain, No.2 seed Siniakova triumphed over Egypt's Mayar Sherif 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in a 2-hour and 51-minute marathon final.

Sherif, who led the week in second-serve winning percentage, came into Sunday with a 6-0 record in WTA 125 clay-court finals. But Siniakova, the former WTA Doubles World No.1, reeled off the last three games of the final to end Sherif's streak.

It is more hardware for Siniakova, currently ranked No.40 in singles. The Czech has already won five WTA 250 singles titles in her career, along with 24 doubles titles, including seven Grand Slams. She also won a WTA 125 doubles title at 2014 Limoges with Renata Voracova.

One of the Hologic WTA Tour's top doubles teams won the Catalonia Open doubles final on Saturday, when No.1 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez held off Sherif and Katarzyna Piter 7-5, 6-2.

Regular partners Melichar-Martinez and Perez, co-ranked World No.7 in the WTA doubles rankings, needed 1 hour and 12 minutes to win the final. 

Perez successfully defended her Catalonia Open title; she won while partnering Storm Hunter last year, when the event was held in Reus. Perez has won three WTA 125 doubles titles overall.

It is Melichar-Martinez's second WTA 125 doubles title; she previously prevailed at 2016 San Antonio alongside Anna-Lena Groenefeld. 

Meanwhile, at the L'Open 35 de Saint Malo in Saint Malo, France, 20-year-old wild card Boisson extended her breakthrough season by squeaking past her compatriot Chloe Paquet 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 in Sunday's final. 

In the highest-level final of her career thus far, Boisson, ranked a career-high No.191, outlasted 149th-ranked Paquet in a 2-hour and 53-minute thriller on the finalists' home soil.

Paquet served for the championship on two occasions in the second set, at 5-4 and 6-5, but Boisson got out of peril both times without facing championship point. The wild card romped to a 5-0 lead in the second-set tiebreak, which she closed out en route to the trophy.

Boisson beat three seeded players on her way to the final, including veteran Alizé Cornet, who announced she will retire from tennis after 2024 Roland Garros.

Rising Boisson was on a roll even before her big win in Saint Malo. She had won 18 of her last 19 matches at ITF Challenger events, including three titles.

In Saturday's Saint Malo doubles final, Amina Anshba and Anastasia Detuic took the title with a narrow 7-6(7), 2-6, [10-5] victory over Estelle Cascino and Carole Monnet in 1 hour and 51 minutes.

It is the second WTA 125 doubles title for Anshba, who won 2023 Ljubljana with Quinn Gleason. This is the first WTA 125 doubles title for Detuic, who previously won WTA 250 Parma with Miriam Kolodziejova.