By Chris Oddo | Sunday October 14, 2018
18-year-old Dayana Yastremska surged past China's Wang Qiang to her first career title at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open.
Photo Source: Hong Kong Tennis Open
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Dayana Yastremska made the most of her first WTA final by powering past China’s Wang Qiang at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open to become the second youngest player to claim a WTA title in 2018.
The Ukrainian, who won’t turn 19 until next May, will rise into the Top 70 as a result of her efforts in Hong Kong—she did not drop a set all week and reached beyond the quarterfinals at the WTA level for the first time.
Yastremska, with aggressive strokes, easy power and exceptional court coverage, made the victory look easy. She nailed 33 winners against 21 unforced errors to deny the surging Wang her third title of 2018 in just 65 minutes.
The Ukrainian reeled off eight consecutive games from 2-2 in the opener and only really slowed down when she seemed to realize how close she was to the finish line.
Nerves played a role down the stretch but after surrendering a break at 4-0, Yastremska broke back and then survived a wild ride in the final game, finally converting her fourth match point before bursting into celebration.
Sam Stosur and Zhang Shuai took the doubles title, 6-4, 6-4 over Shuko Aoyama and Lidziya Marozava.