Google News Istanbul Open: Anastasia Potapova thwarts Veronika Kudermetova for maiden title glory
by ABBEY JOHNSON | VIEW 3754
Anastasia Potapova denied Veronika Kudermetova in the final of the Istanbul Open to win a WTA title for the first time in her career. Potapova won 6-3, 6-1 in 93 minutes against Kudermetova. Unlike Kudermetova, who was seeded third in the draw, Potapova’s route into the final came by way of her qualifying for the main draw.
At the start of the match, it looked as though her run to the final would end with a loss as Kudermetova went up an early break to lead 3-1. But Potapova bounced back into the match at that juncture and never looked back, going all the way to the podium.
Potapova finished the match with three more winners to Kudermetova’s 12 and had merely 10 unforced errors, 13 fewer than Kudermetova’s 23.
Istanbul Open: Anastasia Potapova opens title run
Overall, this was the third final that Potapova had contested.
Back in 2018, she’d reached the first two WTA finals of her career, at the Moscow Open and Tashkent Open, losing them to Olga Danilovic and Margarita Gasparyan respectively. On the other hand, Kudermetova was playing the third final of this year – and the fifth of her career.
She was also bidding to win her second career title after the 2021 Charleston Open. En route to the final, Potapova had upset the seventh seed from Spain, Sara Sorribes Tormo in the final while Kudermetova had halted Sorana Cirstea, who was defending her 2021 title in the semis.
The Romanian had been the highest seed left in the draw after the top-seeded Elise Mertens had been forced to abandon her first-round match partway due to injury. Following her win, Anastasia Potapova re-entered the top-100 of the WTA ranking on Monday, 25th April, in the 78th place a gain of 44 spots.
Meanwhile, the Istanbul Open was the second tournament on the WTA tour where a qualifier went on to bag the title. A couple of weeks ago, Germany’s Tatjana Maria claimed the Copa Colsanitas title as a qualifier. Photo Credit: Istanbul Open Twitter