This week at the WTA 125 tournaments, accepting a wild card entry in France proved highly successful for Naomi Osaka, while Dalma Galfi and Bianca Andreescu also secured titles in Spain.
Here`s a rundown of the action from the clay-court WTA 125 events held over the weekend:
Wild Card Osaka Triumphs in Saint Malo
Former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka from Japan captured the first WTA 125 title of her career on Sunday. Playing in Saint Malo, France, at the L`Open 35 de Saint Malo, she defeated Slovenia`s Kaja Juvan in the final with a score of 6-1, 7-5.
Osaka is a decorated champion with four Grand Slam titles and three other titles on the Hologic WTA Tour. However, she hadn`t won a singles title at any level since her major victory at the 2021 Australian Open.
This dry spell concluded this week after Osaka entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed with a wild card. She dropped a set in matches against French players Diane Parry and Leolia Jeanjean but otherwise advanced through the draw without significant trouble.
Interestingly, this was not Osaka`s inaugural WTA 125 final appearance; she was the runner-up at the WTA 125 Hua Hin event back in 2015, approximately nine and a half years ago.
A quick acknowledgment goes to Kaja Juvan, a former Top 100 player who returned to the tour in January after a 12-month break and has already reached a WTA 125 final.
The doubles title in Saint Malo was won by the top-seeded team of Maia Lumsden and Makoto Ninomiya. They beat the No. 2 seeds Oksana Kalashnikova and Angelica Moratelli 7-5, 6-2 in the final on Saturday.
Galfi Secures Vic Title, Extends Winning Streak to 10
Hungary`s Dalma Galfi had not won a WTA 125 title until she claimed the trophy in Oeiras last month. Now, she has two.
On Saturday, Galfi won the Catalonia Open title in Vic, Spain, with a dominant 6-3, 6-0 victory over Rebeka Masarova of Switzerland in the final. This win extended Galfi`s impressive winning streak to ten consecutive matches.
Galfi had a completely dominant week in Vic, not losing more than four games in any single set throughout the tournament.
Galfi, who was the junior world No. 1 a decade ago, is arguably enjoying the best form of her professional career. Having been ranked No. 149 just three weeks prior, she is now projected to re-enter the Top 100 in the upcoming PIF WTA Rankings update on Monday.
Also in Vic, another Grand Slam champion entered as a wild card and finished the week with a title. Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion, partnered with Aldila Sutjiadi to win the doubles title.
In the Catalonia Open doubles final on Friday, Andreescu and Sutjiadi defeated the team of Lulu Sun and fellow Grand Slam finalist Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-4.
