Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Diana Shnaider prevailed in challenging three-set finals to collect this week's WTA 125 clay-court titles.
No.4 seed Schmiedlova of Slovakia battled to the WTA 125 Parma Ladies Open title this week, culminating in a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 victory over No.8 seed Mayar Sherif of Egypt in Saturday's final.
On the clay courts of northern Italy, Schmiedlova needed 2 hours and 53 minutes to take down Sherif. Schmiedlova, last year's Parma runner-up to Ana Bogdan, went one further this year and took home the second WTA 125 title of her career.
Currently ranked No.67, former Top 30 player Schmiedlova made it into this week's semifinals without the loss of a set. However, the Slovak then had to fight her way through two marathon rounds before hoisting the trophy.
On Friday, Schmiedlova barely outlasted Jule Niemeier 6-4, 6-7(11), 7-5 in a 3-hour and 38-minute semifinal. Schmiedlova had six match points in the second set but was pulled into a third set by Niemeier.
In the third set, Niemeier held six match points of her own serving at 5-4. Schmiedlova fended off all of those match points, and she eventually closed out the semifinal victory on her seventh match point -- which was her first match point of the third set.
Schmiedlova did not have to face any match points in the final, but she did have to fight back from a deficit again. In the third set, Sherif led by a break at 4-2, but Schmiedlova proved her resilience once more, winning the last four games of the showdown.
Sherif had been unstoppable in WTA 125 finals to start her career, winning the first six she contested. However, the Egyptian has lost in two WTA 125 finals this month, also finishing runner-up to Katerina Siniakova in Lleida.
The Parma doubles final also took place on Saturday, where No.1 seeds Anna Danilina and Irina Khromacheva breezed past No.2 seeds Ingrid Gamarra Martins and Elixane Lechemia 6-1, 6-2 in just 64 minutes.
This is the second WTA 125 doubles title for Danilina, who also won last year's US Open mixed doubles title with Harri Heliovaara. It is the third WTA 125 doubles title for Khromacheva.
Shnaider sweeps Paris: On Sunday, No.6 seed Shnaider bested No.1 seed Emma Navarro 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in the WTA 125 Trophee Clarins final in Paris. Shnaider, ranked World No.62, took 2 hours and 2 minutes to outlast 23rd-ranked Navarro.
It is Shnaider's second career WTA 125 title. She previously won the WTA 125 title at 2022 Montevideo, which was also on clay.
Like Schmiedlova in Parma, Shnaider had a close call before even making the Paris final. She needed a third-set tiebreak to get past qualifier Elsa Jacquemot in the second round.
In Sunday's final, Shnaider powered to third-set leads at 2-0 and 4-2, but Navarro struck back each time. Ultimately, 20-year-old Shnaider successfully fought through a four-deuce game at 5-4, eventually converting her fourth championship point with a forehand winner.
The Trophee Clarins doubles final took place on Saturday, where Asia Muhammad and Aldila Sutjiadi squeaked past Monica Niculescu and Zhu Lin 7-6(3), 4-6, [11-9] to take the title.
Muhammad and Sutjiadi saved a championship point at 9-8 in the match-tiebreak before converting their first chance at 10-9, completing the win in 2 hours and 2 minutes -- the same length as the singles final.
This is Sutjiadi's third WTA 125 doubles title, and her first since 2022. Muhammad has now won five WTA 125 doubles titles, but this is her first on clay.
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