Ekaterina Alexandrova beat Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina 6-2 6-4 in the final of the Shenzhen International Open winning the first WTA singles title of her career. Alexandrova has become the first WTA Tour champion of the new decade. Alexandrova and Rybakina met for the first time in their careers.
Alexandrova went up a double break to race out to a 4-0 lead. Rybakina held only one service game in the first set after a long deuce game. The Russian player went up a break in the first game of the second set, but Rybakina broke back in the second game. Rybakina got her second break in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. Alexandrova came back from a break down by winning four consecutive games with two breaks in the seventh and ninth games to clinch the the second set 6-4.
Alexandrova won the WTA 125k Series Event in Limoges last December and continued her winning streak by improving her winning streak to ten consecutive matches. This week she dropped one set.
“In the second set I think she played well. I was lucky when it was 4-4 with a net cord. That gave me three break points. After that she was nervous. I think it helped me”,said Alexandrova.
