Quevedo pulls away late in Sao Paulo to secure first WTA title

Kaitlin Quevedo made her tour-level debut at the Auckland Open in January. Eight months later, she is a WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz champion.

The 20-year-old rallied from a set down in Monday's rescheduled Sao Paulo final, defeating fellow first-time finalist Nadia Podoroska 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in 2 hours and 8 minutes to win the 2026 SP Open in just her eighth WTA main-draw appearance. The title comes on the same day she achieved a career-high ranking of No. 90.

"I was just going match by match, trying to compete the best I could, and in the end, I was able to win the trophy," Quevedo told reporters. "I'm really proud of my efforts, not just this week, but in the so many years I've been practicing and playing tennis. You always want these kinds of things to happen, but you really don't know when or if it's going to happen.

"So I'm really grateful and I just want to enjoy the moment."

After a start that largely tilted toward Podoroska, Quevedo erased a break deficit in the second set and broke in the final game to force a decider. She then rolled through the first five games of the third before closing with another break, watching Podoroska's last forehand sail long to seal her championship moment.

It continues a prosperous season for the Spaniard. Since her debut, she has beaten Venus Williams in Madrid, made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at Roland Garros -- where she defeated Leolia Jeanjean for her first Major win -- and cracked the Top 100 for the first time in July.

In August, she reached her first WTA 125 final, falling to Laura Samson, and earlier won a W75 in Saint-Gaudens in May, her 10th WTT title.

With her first tour-level title, she becomes the ninth first-time WTA champion of 2026, joining:

• Sara Bejlek (Abu Dhabi)
• Cristina Bucsa (Merida)
• Petra Marcinko (Rabat)
• Robin Montgomery ('s-Hertogenbosch)
• Lilli Tagger (Prague)
• Alexandra Eala (Washington)
• Kristina Liutova (Memphis)
• Diane Parry (Monterrey)

Of that group, Quevedo is the fifth player 20 or younger to achieve the feat this season.

On the other side of the net, Podoroska ultimately fell short of her first tour-level singles title, but she became the first Argentinian to reach a WTA final since Paula Ormaechea in 2013. Coincidentally, it was Ormaechea whom Podoroska defeated at Cali 2023 to win the first of her three WTA 125 titles.

The former Roland Garros semifinalist also climbed back into the Top 200 on Monday after entering the week at No. 317 in the PIF WTA Rankings, continuing a resurgence that follows a 14-month layoff caused by a series of injuries.