ST. PETERSBURG: Kiki Bertens beat Elena Rybakina 6-1, 6-3 to retain the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy on Sunday.
It’s the first title of 2020 for the Dutch player who is world No. 8. She hit six aces on the way to victory and held serve throughout.
Second-seeded Bertens needed just 1 hour, 14 minutes to beat Rybakina in the final after fighting off a second-set comeback from Rybakina by saving four break points in the opening game.
Bertens ended a 0-3 streak in tour finals to claim her first tournament win since she beat Simona Halep in Madrid in May. Bertens last successfully defended a title in Nuremburg in 2017.
Eighth-seeded Rybakina, from Kazakhstan, was playing her third final of 2020 after a strong start to the season.
Separately, Kim Clijsters faces an unexpectedly tough first match on her comeback after seven years out in Dubai this week — against Australian Open finalist Garbine Muguruza.
Clijsters, 36, had been due to play Kiki Bertens but the eighth-ranked Dutch player withdrew after reaching the Sunday final in St. Petersburg.
Her absence moved tournament wild card Muguruza into the draw opposite Clijsters, the four-time Grand Slam singles champion and mother-of-three who is making a return after last competing at the 2012 US Open.
Spain’s Muguruza, a two-time Major winner, becomes the ninth seed and will take on Clijsters in the first round at the Aviation Club.
Top seed Simona Halep and No. 2 Karolina Pliskova both have byes into the second round.
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