Renata Zarazua and Nina Stojanovic were crowned this week's singles champions at WTA 125 tournaments on clay courts this week.
Mexico's Zarazua hoisted the trophy on the green clay of Charleston, South Carolina at the Fifth Third Charleston 125. No.1 seed Zarazua fended off No.7 seed Hanna Chang of the United States 6-1, 7-6(4) in Sunday's final.
Zarazua took 1 hour and 50 minutes to defeat Chang and win her second career WTA 125 title. The Mexican No.1 clinched her first WTA 125 clay-court title last December when she triumphed in Montevideo, Uruguay.
The victory is another feather in Zarazua's cap during her career-best year. She broke the Top 100 for the first time in January, and has risen substantially higher since then. The 27-year-old is currently ranked No.60, just one spot below her career high.
However, 26-year-old Chang, who was contesting her first WTA 125 singles final, is also having her career-best season. The American made her Top 200 debut in August and is currently ranked No.194, which is also one spot below her career high.
After racing to a 6-1, 3-1 lead, Zarazua was forced to quell a second-set comeback by Chang. Zarazua was two points away from the victory at 6-1, 5-3, 30-0, but Chang started to be more proactive in the rallies as she pushed the top seed to a second-set tiebreak.
Zarazua started the tiebreak with a double fault, and a third set seemed to be a distinct possibility. However, the Mexican won six of the next nine points to reach championship point, which she converted with an error-forcing rally backhand down the line.
The Fifth Third Charleston 125 doubles title went to No.3 seeds Nuria Brancaccio of Italy and Leyre Romero Gormaz of Spain. They defeated Kayla Cross of Canada and Liv Hovde of the United States 7-6(6), 6-2 in Saturday's doubles final.
This is Brancaccio and Romero Gormaz's second WTA 125 doubles title. They also picked up the trophy in Ljubljana earlier this year.
Later on Sunday, Nina Stojanovic of Serbia notched the biggest singles title of her career by winning the WTA 125 LP Open by IND crown. Stojanovic posted a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over No.2 seed Maria Lourdes Carle of Argentina in the final.
Stojanovic, a former Top 100 player currently ranked No.432, battled back from a set and a double-break down to complete a 2-hour and 44-minute upset of Carle on the red clay of Colina, Chile.
Carle romped to a 6-3, 3-0 lead before Stojanovic cranked a forehand winner down the line to get on the scoreboard in the second set. The set turned on a dime from that instant, as Stojanovic won five of the next six games to level proceedings.
There were no breaks in the third set until the very last game, where Carle hit her 13th double fault to give Stojanovic her first match point. There, the Serb knocked off a volley winner before collapsing to the ground in joy.
The Colina title is another big step this year for 28-year-old Stojanovic, who also beat No.1 seed Suzan Lamens in this week's opening round. Just last month in Merida, Stojanovic got her first tour-level wins in over three years.
Stojanovic also won the LP Open by IND doubles title, when she and Mayar Sherif of Egypt received a walkover in the final. The all-French pairing of Leolia Jeanjean and Kristina Mladenovic withdrew from the championship match due to an elbow injury to Jeanjean.
Sherif won her second WTA 125 doubles title, adding to her 2022 Karlsruhe trophy. This is Stojanovic's first WTA 125 doubles title.