A resurgent Nuria Parrizas Diaz claimed the third WTA 125 title of her career at the Workday Canberra International after defeating Harriet Dart 6-4, 6-3 in a 1-hour, 36-minute final.
Parrizas Diaz's trio of WTA 125 trophies have all come on different surfaces. The 32-year-old was previously the champion at Bastad (clay) and Columbus (indoor hard courts) in 2021, the year she became the fifth-oldest player to debut in the Top 100 since the start of the WTA Rankings. Parrizas Diaz hit a career-high of No.45 in March 2022, but struggled with injuries in 2023 -- missing two months between Wimbledon and the US Open -- and had slipped to No.123 this week.
The Spaniard dropped just one set en route to her biggest title on outdoor hard courts, defeating No.5 seed Kamilla Rakhimova 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 in the second round. Her run also included a first-round win over fast-rising 18-year-old Celine Naef 6-3, 6-1, and a 6-4, 7-6(3) semifinal triumph over heavy-hitting Clara Tauson.
In the final, Parrizas Diaz landed 68% of her first serves and won 73% of those points, and saved four out of the five break points she faced. She captured the Dart serve four times, and limited the Briton to just 36% of second-serve points won.
No.120-ranked Dart had needed to go to three sets in three out of four matches to reach her first WTA 125 final. The unseeded 27-year-old came through 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 against Anna-Lena Friedsam in her opener and ousted No.6 seed Wang Yafan 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 in the second round before upsetting No.2 seed Nao Hibino 6-3, 6-0 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Dart triumphed in the longest match of the tournament, defeating Katie Volynets 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 over 3 hours and 14 minutes.
Tauson upsets top seed; Joint impresses on debut
Tauson, 21, put together another positive week as she bids to re-establish herself in the Top 100. The Dane reached a career-high of No.33 in 2022 after winning her first two Hologic WTA Tour titles the previous year, but has struggled with injuries since.
In Canberra, Tauson took out No.1 seed Viktorija Golubic 6-2, 6-4 in the first round, and took that momentum all the way to the semifinals.
Teenage wild card Maya Joint enjoyed the best week of her young career so far on home soil. The 17-year-old, making her debut at WTA 125 level, upset No.8 seed Sara Errani 6-2, 6-3 in the first round and backed that up by defeating fellow teen Ella Seidel 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 to make the quarterfinals -- the first two Top 200 wins of her career.
No.684-ranked Joint's run was ended by Tauson 6-4, 6-2 in the last eight, but the U.S.-born Australian will get another opportunity to show off her skills after receiving a wild card to Australian Open qualifying this coming week.
Erjavec, Semenistaja capture doubles title
The unseeded duo of Veronika Erjavec and Darja Semenistaja lifted the doubles trophy after defeating home pair Kaylah McPhee and Astra Sharma 6-2, 6-4 in the final. Erjavec, of Slovenia, and Semenistaja, of Latvia, were playing together for the first time.
The title was the 21-year-old Semenistaja's first at WTA 125 level, and Erjavec's second. The 24-year-old was previously the 2023 Iasi 125 champion alongside Dalila Jakupovic.
