In an all-Italian final, No.1 seed Elisabetta Cocciaretto battled past No.7 seed Sara Errani 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 to claim her second career WTA 125 title at the inaugural San Luis Potosi Open in Mexico on Sunday night.
World No.49 Cocciaretto took 2 hours and 27 minutes to improve to 4-0 against 2012 Roland Garros finalist Errani and add the clay-court crown to her collection. Cocciaretto's previous WTA 125 title also came in Mexico, on the hard courts of Tampico last October.
"It was a very hard match, [Errani is] a very incredible player," Cocciaretto said, after her win. "I know her very well, she knows me very well, so it was very tough, especially in the final with a lot of experience from her. But I think I managed the important moments well, and I’m happy about the win.
"I tried to fight until the end, every point, and that’s the key, I think, for sure. Always in the altitude, I feel well -- also in Guadalajara, I always play well. So I think that the altitude and the fight this week was the key."
Cocciaretto held on in the final to continue her solid start to 2023 that saw her break the Top 50 for the first time. Cocciaretto also made her first Hologic WTA Tour singles final earlier this year, finishing runner-up to Lauren Davis in Hobart.
On Sunday night, the two Italians converted many chances on return -- in fact, the first seven games of the match, and 21 of the 34 games overall, went against serve.
In the decisive third set, a backhand return winner gave Cocciaretto a break for 5-3 and a chance to serve for the match, but Errani used stellar defending to break back for 5-4. Errani then found herself down triple championship point at 0-40 in the next game, but she drew more errors from Cocciaretto, clawing to 5-5.
An unfazed Cocciaretto cruised through a love service game for 6-5, and she smacked a backhand return winner down the line to garner two more championship points in the following game. On her fifth championship point, Cocciaretto dominated with her backhand return again, forcing a wide error with that shot to clinch the title.
Earlier on Sunday, No.4 seeds Aliona Bolsova of Spain and Andrea Gamiz of Venezuela won the doubles title with a 7-6(5), 6-4 victory over Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia and Katarzyna Piter of Poland.
Bolsova and Gamiz took 1 hour and 35 minutes to defeat their unseeded opponents, coming back from a break down at 6-5 in the topsy-turvy opening set en route to the trophy.
Bolsova and Gamiz did not drop a set all week as they won their second team title at a WTA 125 event, matching their title at Bucharest last September. Those mark both of Gamiz's two WTA 125 doubles titles, while Bolsova is 4-0 in WTA 125 doubles finals in her career.
