Serbian lucky loser Olga Danilovic has completed her fairytale week at the River Cup in Moscow by defeating home favourite Anastasia Potapova 7-5, 6-7(1), 6-4, in a gripping final.
Danilovic, who had never won a main draw match on the WTA Tour prior to this week, continued her sensational run with a hard-fought battle that lasted more than two hours. Hitting 7 aces and breaking her rival seven times. The win makes the 17-year-old the youngest champion on the women’s tour since Ana Konjuh’s triumph at the 2015 Nottingham Open.
“There’s just no words to describe what I’m feeling right now. As I said yesterday, tennis is my life. It is for such moments that I live (for).” Danilovic said during her press conference.
“Anastasia is just an amazing player, and we played an excellent finale, showed tennis of a very high quality. There were so many winners and so many amazing points.”
In what was the first ever tour final contested by two players born after 2001, both illustrated why they are rising stars of the game. Producing shot-making that delighted the Russian crowd in what was a roller coaster encounter.
From the onset, the animated teenager found herself fighting. Potapova, who won the 2016 Wimbledon girls title, raced to a 4-1 lead before being pegged back by her opponent. Danilovic managed to claw her way back to clinch the first set as she overcame her nerves and improved her consistency.
The world No.187 went on to serve for a straight sets win over her nemesis. Danilovic has competed both against and alongside Potapova on the junior tour, winning the 2016 Orange Bowl doubles title together. Serving for the match with a 7-5, 5-4, lead, a blip from the Serbian enabled her opponent to level back up. Then a lacklustre performance during the tiebreaker from Danilovic saw her lose seven consecutive points to revive Potapova’s chances.
Heading into the decider with everything to play for, three consecutive breaks of the Potapova serve guided the Serbian to the biggest title of her career. Who claimed victory with the help of a smash at the net. Completing the match with a 47 winners to 46 unforced errors.
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Inspired by compatriots Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic growing up, Danilovic is the first player born in the 2000s to win a WTA title. She is set to rise to roughly 112th in the WTA rankings when they are updated on Monday.
Five quick facts about Olga Danilovic
- Won three grand slam titles during her junior career in doubles.
- She has won four ITF titles. All of which have been on the clay.
- In February she defeated Anastacia Sevastova in a Fed Cup tie. Becoming the first player born in 2001 to defeat a top 20 player.
- Has been mentored by former world No.2 Alex Corretja since 2016.
- She is the daughter of former basketball player Predrag Danilovic. Pedrag was a member of the Yugoslavian team that won four Eurobasket titles between 1989-1997 and well as a silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games.
