American Bernarda Pera won her first WTA career title last weekend in Budapest. On Saturday, she doubled her trophy total with a 6-2, 6-4 defeat of top seed Anett Kontaveit at the Hamburg European Open.
Her victory over World No. 2 Kontaveit gave Pera just her second win over a top 10 player. She previously defeated then-No. 10 Johanna Konta in the opening round of the 2018 Australian Open.
On Saturday, Pera needed just 74 minutes to defeat the Estonian favorite. She broke Kontaveit’s serve four times in her first eight service games.
Pera, 27, was ranked No. 130 ahead of the Budapest tournament and is expected to move into the top 60 when the new rankings are released on Monday. Her previous career high was No. 59.
Pera joins Iga Swiatek, Ons Jabeur, Beatriz Haddad Maia and the since-retired Ashleigh Barty as multiple winners on tour this season.
Palermo Ladies Open
Sixth-seeded Irina-Camelia Begu survived a 92-minute final set en route to polishing off a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 clay-court victory over fourth-seeded Sara Sorribes Tormo to reach the title match in Italy.
Lucia Bronzetti will be Begu’s opponent after rallying for a 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over fellow Italian Jasmine Paolini. The 23-year-old Bronzetti will be looking for her first career WTA title.
Begu, a 31-year-old Romanian, is seeking her fifth career title. She opened up a 5-2 lead in the final set against Sorribes Tormo before the Spaniard battled back to win the next two games.
Begu then closed out the match with a forehand winner on her service to finish off the three-hour, 13-minute marathon match.
–Field Level Media
