Arantxa Rus clinches glory; bests Noma Noha Akugue in finale!

Arantxa Rus’ lengthy patience for a WTA title was finally rewarded on Saturday. The Dutch, at the age of 32, won the first-ever title of her career at the Hamburg European Open. Rus defeated Noma Noha Akugue 6-0, 7-6(3) in an hour and 45 minutes in the final.The first set, as the score suggests, was dominated by Rus.

The seventh seed won 75% of her first-serve points and 62% points on return on the German’s serve. She also won 43% of her second-serve points and 88% points on return on the 19-year-old’s second serve. She saved the lone break point she faced and converted all three break points she had on her opponent’s serve.Both players traded breaks to start the second set with the set remaining firmly on serve thereafter.

However, Rus did have a couple of match points at 5-4 on her rival’s serve but the latter successfully fended them off to retain serve and push the match into the tie-break. In the tie-break, too, Noha Akugue saved a couple more match points before Rus capitalised on the fifth match point she had to triumph.