No.4 seed Elisabetta Cocciaretto defeated No.7 seed Diana Shnaider 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the Fifth Third Charleston 125 to complete a title run in which she did not lose a set.
The result seals the Italian's third WTA 125 title, following Tampico 2022 and San Luis Potosi 2023, and second on hard courts. Cocciaretto also captured her first tour-level trophy at the Lausanne WTA 250 event last July.
No.60-ranked Cocciaretto was only taken to a tiebreak once in five matches, winning her semifinal over Greet Minnen 7-6(4), 6-1 after coming from 4-1 down and saving one set point in the first set.
Shnaider was contesting her second WTA 125 final following her title run at Montevideo 2022. The 19-year-old also reached her first tour-level final in Ningbo last October, and claimed her first WTA 250 title in Hua Hin last month. She dropped just one set on the way to the final, defeating No.6 seed Wang Yafan 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals.
Fast-rising McCartney Kessler improved her 2024 record to 17-5 overall after qualifying and reaching the quarterfinals. The No.123-ranked American upset No.5 seed Zhu Lin 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the first round for the first Top 70 win of her career, and only fell to eventual champion Cocciaretto 7-5, 6-3 in the last eight. Kessler claimed her first WTA 125 title in Puerto Vallarta last month.
The second round of the tournament saw two players pull off remarkable comebacks. Qualifier Erika Andreeva saved eight match points to overturn a 6-2, 5-3 deficit against No.9 seed Nao Hibino, eventually pulling through 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 in 2 hours and 23 minutes. Andreeva, 19, fended off the first two on her own serve, then six as Hibino served for the match at 5-4 in the second set.
At the same stage, Oceane Dodin edged No.3 seed Martina Trevisan 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(9) in 3 hours and 1 minute, winning the longest third-set tiebreak (by scoreline) of 2024 so far at either WTA 125 or main tour level. The Frenchwoman saved four match points, the first two serving at 5-6 in the decider and the next two in the tiebreak, before converting her fourth. She fell 6-3, 6-2 to Shnaider in the quarterfinals.
Olivia Gadecki and Olivia Nicholls extended their winning streak to seven matches and two tournaments after defeating No.4 seeds Sara Errani and Tereza Mihalikova 6-2, 6-1 in the doubles final. The Australian-British duo had also claimed their first tour-level title together in Austin two weeks ago.
