By Erik Gudris | Sunday, July 20, 2014
Mona Barthel, the highest ranked woman left in the draw, completed a straight sets win to claim the Bastad title.
Photo Credit: Getty
In a week filled with upsets, Germany's Mona Barthel collected her third career title at the Collector Swedish Open in Bastad.
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The tournament draw opened up earlier in the week as no seeded players reached the quarterfinals - a WTA first since 2009. That left Barthel, ranked No. 61, and South Africa's Chanelle Scheepers, ranked No. 91, to compete in Sunday's final.
Barthel, who rallied to win her semifinal against Silvia Soler-Espinosa, eased her way through the opening set. Soon, Barthel clinched it 6-3.
Things proved tougher for the German though in the second set. Scheepers would jump out to a 5-3 lead. Yet, Barthel would fight back and eventually a tiebreak resulted.
Taking hold of an early mini-break lead, Barthel would hold match points. Scheepers hit a wayward backhand wide giving Barthel the 6-3, 7-6(3) victory.
Bastad is now the third career WTA title for Barthel. She earlier won titles in Hobart and at the Paris Indoors last year.
"It was like a perfect week for me. I was fighting a lot…in some matches I was behind, and I was just fighting for every point. I'm just happy everything worked out. I love this tournament so much," Barthel said to WTA.com. "I can't wait to defend my title."
Andrea Klepac and Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor won the doubles title.