Thiem, Bertens among weekend winners

ST PETERSBURG, AP – Dominic Thiem breezed past Martin Klizan 6-3 6-1 to win the St Petersburg Open on Sunday.

Thiem held serve throughout and wrapped up the win in just an hour and eight minutes to take his third title of the season agfter Buenos Aires and Lyon.

It was the big-hitting Austrian’s first final since losing the French Open final to Rafael Nadal.

“I think that I was raising up my level from the first to the last match and obviously I played my best match today,” Thiem told atpworldtour.com.

“I was doing a lot of things very well today: serving, returning, and also from the baseline. The scoreline was going for me, and that’s why it was pretty quick, I would say.”

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Thiem, ranked eighth in the world, hadn’t won a hard-court title since beating Bernard Tomic at the Mexican Open in February 2016 and his previous seven finals were all on clay.

The 2012 champion in St Petersburg, Klizan lost his unbeaten record in tour finals which had stood at six, the joint-highest on the tour.

Klizan arrived in the final after beating Denis Shapovalov in the quarterfinals and Stan Wawrinka in the semis.

Bertens wins third WTA title of 2018

SEOUL, AP – Ajla Tomljanovic has been denied her first career WTA title after losing 7-6(2) 4-6 6-2 to Kiki Bertens in the final of the Korea Open.

The second-seeded Bertens claimed the final six games of the match to secure her third WTA Tour singles title of the season.

Bertens was behind 2-0 in the second set before coming back to take a 4-3 lead with a break, but Tomljanovic broke in the 10th game when Bertens netted a forehand, giving the Australian the second set.

Tomljanovic again took a 2-0 lead in the final set, hitting a blistering forehand to the back of the court on break point that Bertens could only watch streak past her. But the Dutch player again staged a comeback, not dropping another game.

“Normally I like to enjoy (a title) with good food and a nice glass of wine,” she told wtatennis.com.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea tonight – we have to get up early and get our flights (to Wuhan). But titles – you have to celebrate them, this is what you play for.”

The No.12-ranked Bertens had dropped only one set going in to the final, while Tomljanovic needed three sets in each of her previous matches.

The win keeps Bertens in contention for a debut place at the WTA Finals; the Dutchwoman is currently ninth in the Race to Singapore.

Wang wins on home soil

GUANGZHOU, Reuters – China’s Wang Qiang picked up her second career WTA title with a surprisingly straightforward 6-1 6-2 victory over Yulia Putintseva in the final of the Guangzhou International Women’s Open Saturday.

It was the second title on home soil for the two-time Asian Games singles champion, who defeated compatriot Zheng Saisai to win the Jiangxi Open in Nanchang in July.

Wang hit 25 winners to just 16 unforced errors during the match and broke her Kazakh opponent five times to win the title without dropping a set all week. She saved all three break points she faced in the match.

The withdrawal of defending champion Zhang Shuai and Wang’s title win on Saturday will see her become China’s top-ranked player when she climbs seven places to a career-high 34th on Monday.

Simon triumphs over qualifier in Metz final

Frenchman Gilles Simon delighted home fans with a 7-6(2) 6-1 win over German Matthias Bachinger in the ATP Metz final on Sunday.

It is Simon’s third title in Metz (2013, 2010) and he also reached the final in 2015.

He saved three set points in the opening set before running out a victor in 79 minutes.

Bachinger began the week in Metz in the qualifying rounds, winning six straight matches before coming up against Simon in the final.

He upset No.1 seed Kei Nishikori in the semifinals, winning 7-5 in the third set.