Li claims first WTA 125 title of career in Valencia

Ann Li of the United States won the first WTA 125 title of her career on Sunday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No.1 seed Viktoriya Tomova in the BBVA Open Internacional de Valencia final.

Unseeded Li needed 1 hour and 18 minutes to take down Bulgaria's Tomova at the clay-court event. Li clinched the highest-level title of her career since 2021, when she won the WTA 250 event in Tenerife for her maiden Hologic WTA Tour title.

Li racked up the upsets in Valencia, Spain, defeating the top three seeds during the week. Before prevailing over top-seeded Tomova, Li garnered three-set wins over No.3 seed Martina Trevisan in the second round and No.2 seed Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the semifinals.

In the straight-sets final, it was Li who took greater advantage of break points, going 4-for-6. World No.69 Tomova converted only two of her nine break points in the final.

Li hit a career-high ranking of No.44 in January of 2022, but injuries, including to her abdominal in 2021 and pectoral in 2022, have periodically stunted the former Junior Wimbledon finalist's momentum.

By triumphing in Valencia, the 23-year-old will see her ranking take a leap upwards. Li rises from No.172 to No.140 in Monday's updated PIF WTA Rankings.

In Sunday's doubles final, No.2 seeds Katarzyna Piter of Poland and Fanny Stollar of Hungary defeated unseeded Angelica Moratelli of Italy and Renata Zarazua of Mexico 6-1, 4-6, [10-8] to hoist the championship trophy.

Piter and Stollar saw a 5-0 lead in the decisive match-tiebreak slip away, but held on to clinch victory after 1 hour and 22 minutes of play. Piter and Stollar also needed a match-tiebreak to squeak past Seone Mendez and Ekaterina Yashina in the semifinals.

This is Stollar's second career WTA 125 doubles title and her first since 2019. For Piter, this is her first WTA 125 doubles title after going winless in her first five WTA 125 finals. Both Stollar and Piter have also won multiple doubles titles at Hologic WTA Tour events.