Twenty-year-old Diana Shnaider captured her second title of 2024, and of her Hologic WTA Tour career on Sunday at the Bad Homburg Open powered by Solarwatt with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 win over Donna Vekic.

Shanider's first WTA 500-level victory, in her tournament debut, adds to a season in which she won her first tour-level singles title at Hua Hin in February, and makes her the sixth -- and youngest -- player to win multiple singles titles on tour this year. She joins World No.1 Iga Swiatek, who has a tour-leading five titles, three-time champions Elena Rybakina and Jelena Ostapenko, and other two-time winners Danielle Collins and Katie Boulter.

Having already entered the tournament at a career-high ranking of No.47, Shnaider will rise to No.30 in Monday's edition of the PIF WTA Rankings after a week that also saw her beat three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber, Australian Open semifinalist Dayana Yastremska, former World No.2 Paula Badosa, and No.3 seed Emma Navarro. This time last year, she was barely inside the Top 100 at No.98.

"It was an amazing week for me ... I managed to play one of the best weeks of my life, so I hope I will just keep going like this," Shnaider said afterwards. 

A high-quality final saw both players hit more winners than unforced errors, and combine for 16 aces. However, efficiency on break points proved crucial: Shnaider converted four of her six chances, and saved 10 of the whopping 13 chances Vekic had against her -- allowing her to win the match despite winning six fewer total points.

Clutch play helped Shnaider take a one set lead, as she held serve in a seven-deuce game for 5-2 -- saving two break points along the way. To serve out the set, she saved a staggering seven more break points across nine deuces, and eventually wrapped up the set on her fourth set point.

In all, Shnaider hit 31 winners -- plus nine aces -- to 20 unforced errors, while Vekic wrapped up with 40 winners and 21 unforced errors. 

Shnaider is the first player younger than age 21 to win a grass-court singles title since Sofia Kenin in Mallorca five years ago. Before that, it was Vekic in Nottingham in 2017. 

Melichar-Martinez and Perez rally for doubles title

The doubles final was also decided in three sets, and No.1 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez rallied from a set down to defeat Chan Hao-ching and Veronika Kudermetova, 4-6, 6-3, 10-8.

The American and Aussie duo picked up their third title together, and second this year, with the victory. They previously triumphed in San Diego in March, which broke a 10-match losing streak for Melichar-Martinez in WTA finals -- eight of which were with Perez.