By Alberto Amalfi | Sunday, October 16, 2022
Contesting her first final, qualifier Blinkova beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to capture her maiden WTA championship at the Transylvania Open.
Photo credit: Getty
It was a first and Anna Blinkova made it last.
Contesting her first final, qualifier Blinkova beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to capture her maiden WTA championship at the Transylvania Open.
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On championship point, Blinkova blasted a backhand drive volley crosscourt and bent over in joy soaking in her breakthrough.
It's a milestone moment for Blinkova, who rockets 58 spots up the rankings to No. 80 in the Live Rankings.
The Moscow-born baseliner is the fifth qualifier to collect a WTA title in 2022, joining Tatjana Maria (Bogota), Anastasia Potapova (Istanbul), Bernarda Pera (Budapest) and Caroline Garcia (Cincinnati) in the transformation from qualifier to champion.
It all added up to a maiden title for Blinkova and a celebration with one of Transylvania's finest and devoted (night) tennis fan, Dracula.
The big-hitting Blinkova won 28 of 35 first serve points and pumped five aces against seven double faults.
Consistently playing off her front foot at crucial stages, Blinkova won four consecutive games, including rolling through eight of the final nine points, to wrap up a one hour, 41-minute triumph.
The former world No. 54 earned her first title the hard way. Blinkova scored four three-set main-draw wins en route to the title.
Blinkova went the distance in a second-round triumph over 80th-ranked Xinyu Wang, scored a two-hour, 37-minute quarterfinal conquest of Anhelina Kalinina in the quarterfinals, beat back Anastasia Potapova 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in yesterday's semifinals and came up with a convincing closing kick to hold off Paolini today.