CoCo Vandeweghe overcame a stiff challenge from Kristina Mladenovic rain interludes to win her second title at the Ricoh Open Grass Court Championships in the Netherlands on Sunday. The American had previously triumphed here in 2014.
The title-clash began with both the players committing to their service games. At 5-5, Vandeweghe drew the first blood before consolidating her serve to take the opening set 7-5. The American lost just 2 points on her first serve during the whole set.
After a watchful approach from the duo in the second set, Mladenovic succeeded in converting a solitary break point opportunity as she opened up a 5-3 lead. Her glee, however, didn’t last for long as Vandeweghe bagged four games in a row to seal the match.
It, however, wasn’t an easy day in the office for both the players as they had to not only battle out against each other, but also counter the disruption caused due to rain on three occasions en route the title-clash that went for one hour and 29 minutes.
“It was actually really difficult – we had three rain delay stops – so it was really difficult to get yourself back into the match and make sure you’re fresh and light and ready to go. I was really trying to get myself moving,” Vandeweghe was quoted as saying by WTA Tennis.
“I got myself in a bit of a pickle in the second set, but I battled my way out of it, and sometimes the name of the game is just battling through adversity and problems you cause for yourself,” added the American, who improved to 4-0 against Mladenovic.
