Golubic, Juvan, Bejlek claim WTA 125 titles in China, Türkiye and Italy
Viktorija Golubic, Kaja Juvan and Sara Bejlek were all crowned WTA 125 champions last week across a trio of tournaments in China, Türkiye and Italy.
Golubic thrives on Chinese soil again in Suzhou
Golubic's second and most recent tour-level title came in Jiujiang last October -- part of a 15-match winning streak the Swiss player compiled over the end of 2024 and start of 2025. At the Suzhou Open, the 32-year-old found form again in China to claim her fifth WTA 125 trophy.
No. 6 seed Golubic came through two barnburners along the way. In the quarterfinals, she faced two match points trailing No. 4 seed Alexandra Eala 6-5 in the third set -- and promptly ran off 10 consecutive points to snatch a 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(0) victory. In the final, Golubic trailed Katie Volynets by a set and a break before outlasting the American 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in exactly 3 hours. In between, a rare semifinal clash of single-handed backhands saw Golubic defeat No. 2 seed Tatjana Maria 6-3, 6-3.
No. 1 seed Iva Jovic was upset 6-4, 7-6(3) in the first round by Lulu Sun, the previous week's Jingshan WTA 125 champion. Sun then lost 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the second round to lucky loser Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, who went on to reach her fourth WTA 125 semifinal of the season. There, Volynets ended the Andorran's run 7-5, 6-2 to book her place in a maiden WTA 125 final.
Indonesian duo Aldila Sutjiadi and Janice Tjen captured their first WTA 125 doubles title as a team without dropping a set, defeating Katarzyna Kawa and Makoto Ninomiya 6-4, 6-3 in the final. No. 4 seeds Sutjiadi and Tjen had only played one pro tournament together previously, reaching the Arcadia ITF W35 final in February.
Juvan's comeback gains momentum in Samsun
Former No. 58 Kaja Juvan was unranked in February as she began her comeback from a nerve issue in her shoulder that had sidelined her for 13 months. The Slovenian is now on the verge of returning to the Top 100 after winning her first two WTA 125 titles in her past three tournaments. Having triumphed on clay at home in Ljubljana four weeks ago, Juvan battled to a hard-court trophy at the Samsun Open, on the Black Sea coast of Türkiye.
In the quarterfinals, No. 2 seed Juvan came through 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 against No. 7 seed Maria Timofeeva, the 2023 Budapest champion. Another tough three-setter awaited in the semifinals: despite missing two set points in the first-set tiebreak, the 24-year-old reeled Poland's Linda Klimovicova in 6-7(9), 6-4, 6-2 in 2 hours and 40 minutes.
In the final, Juvan faced No. 3 seed Nikola Bartunkova, the talented Czech 19-year-old fresh off her first tour-level semifinal in Guadalajara. Bartunkova had repeated her Guadalajara second-round win over compatriot Darja Vidmanova in the Samsun semifinals, advancing to her first WTA 125 final 6-4, 7-5. Once again, Juvan had to come from behind to seal victory, overturning a 5-2 deficit in the first set and eventually triumphing 7-6(8), 6-3.
Former World No. 1 Karolina Pliskova's second tournament of her comeback from ankle surgery ended in the first round with a 6-4, 6-3 loss to North Macedonia's Lina Gjorcheska. French No. 1 seed and Sao Paulo champion Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah also fell early, exiting 6-2, 7-5 in the second round to 32-year-old compatriot Amandine Hesse.
However, Rakotomanga Rajaonah joined forces with Switzerland's Naima Karamoko to claim the title in their first ever tournament together, defeating British No. 1 seeds Harriet Dart and Maia Lumsden -- the previous week's champions in Caldas da Rainha -- 7-5, 1-6, [10-6]. It was a first WTA 125 doubles trophy for both Karamoko and Rakotomanga Rajaonah.
Bejlek back on track with victory in Rende
No. 4 seed Sara Bejlek claimed the third WTA 125 trophy of her career, and second of this year following Makarska in June, with a 6-2, 6-7(1), 6-3 defeat of Serbia's Lola Radivojevic in the Internazionali di Calabria final on clay in Rende, Italy.
The result put the 19-year-old Czech's season back on track after several stop-start months. In June, her Makarska title followed a first-round upset of Marta Kostyuk at Roland Garros, Bejlek's second career Top 30 win -- but she sustained a left leg injury the following week in Valencia that forced her to miss Wimbledon. Bejlek bounced back to reach her first tour-level quarterfinal in Prague in July, but she exited the US Open to Destanee Aiava at the first qualifying hurdle.
In Rende, Bejlek overcame two of the tournament's finesse-favoring players back-to-back, defeating home hope Nuria Brancaccio 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinals and Poland's Maja Chwalinska 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals.
Radivojevic, 20, came through a gritty 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 contest over former Roland Garros semifinalist Tamara Zidansek to reach her first WTA 125 final. There, she managed to hold off a charge from 4-0 down in the second set by Bejlek to force a tiebreak, but the teenager took control again in the decider.
Nicole Fossa Huergo and Ekaterine Gorgodze took the doubles title in their first tournament together, edging Federica Urgesi and Aurora Zantedeschi 3-6, 6-1, [10-4] in the final. Georgia's Gorgodze, the only non-Italian in the doubles final, picked up her fifth WTA 125 trophy; Arizona State University alumna Fossa Huergo collected her first.