No.1 seed Mayar Sherif of Egypt continued her high standard of success at WTA 125 events as she overcame unseeded Kateryna Baindl of Ukraine 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-5 in the LP Chile Colina Open final on Sunday.
Sherif's latest clay-court triumph is the fourth WTA 125 title of her career, and her third of the year. The victory continues a breakthrough season for Sherif, who also won her first Hologic WTA Tour title at Parma in October and made her Top 50 debut in July.
Sherif is now 4-0 in WTA 125 finals, although this was her toughest test of those, as it was the first of those finals to go three sets. Sherif took just over three hours to fend off a tenacious Baindl, and the Egyptian needed five championship points before closing out the match.
Baindl had to play two singles matches on Sunday, as her semifinal against No.2 seed Danka Kovinic was postponed by a day due to rain. Baindl defeated Kovinic in straight sets earlier on Sunday, which was her third consecutive upset of a seeded player in Chile.
Baindl carried that momentum into the final, where sturdy forehands gave her the only break of the first set at 2-1. Baindl erased all four break points she faced in the first set.
After four breaks in a row in the middle of the second set, the players moved into a tiebreak, where Sherif grabbed triple set point by chasing down a drop shot and replying with a winning drop volley of her own. Sherif forced an error wide to convert the first of those set points.
More excellent play in the forecourt gave Sherif a 5-2 lead in the third set, but she dropped serve twice in a row as games became increasingly lengthy, with Baindl saving match points at both 5-4 and 5-5.
Baindl, though, double faulted down break point in the next game, giving Sherif a 6-5 lead and a third chance to serve for the title. Sherif took that opportunity, watching a Baindl groundstroke fly just wide on her fifth match point to improve to 3-0 against the Ukrainian.
Sherif was also in the doubles final later that evening, but she did not win both titles, as she had at WTA 125 Karlsruhe earlier this year. No.1 seeds Yana Sizikova and Aldila Sutjiadi eked past No.2 seeds Sherif and Tamara Zidansek 6-1, 3-6, [10-7] to claim the doubles title.
