American tennis player Emma Navarro captured her inaugural clay court championship on Saturday, defeating top-seeded Victoria Mboko of Canada 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 at the Internationaux de Strasbourg in France.
Despite facing four aces from Mboko, Navarro capitalized on her opponent’s six double faults to claim her third career championship and first victory since winning the Merida Open in Mexico this past February.
The American dominated on serve, converting 34 of 46 first-serve opportunities and successfully defending seven of 10 break point chances during the 2 hour and 20 minute encounter.
Mboko’s performance was hampered by a critical double fault on game point during the final set, along with a slip at a pivotal moment. The Canadian will have little time to recover from the defeat, as she’s scheduled to face Czechia’s Nikola Bartunkova in Sunday’s French Open opening round.
Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem
Croatia’s Petra Marcinko, seeded sixth, earned her first WTA championship when unseeded opponent Anhelina Kalinina withdrew during the second set of their final match in Rabat, Morocco.
Following Marcinko’s 6-2 first set victory in the WTA 250 clay tournament, Kalinina received medical attention from a physician for blisters affecting her right foot.
The Croatian had already taken the opening three games of the second set when the Ukrainian player decided to withdraw after 46 minutes of play.
Kalinina had also been seeking her first WTA Tour championship.
