Fiona Ferro became the first tennis player to win a tour event in the sport’s post-coronavirus age on Sunday night, battling past Anett Kontaveit in a high quality encounter to claim the title at the Palermo Ladies Open.
It was Kontaveit who came into the final as the favourite, having comfortably dispatched top seed Petra Martic in yesterday’s semifinal, though today she struggled to deal with the fierce ball striking of Ferro throughout the final. The unseeded Frenchwoman broke twice and hit 23 winners as she comfortably took an impressive opening set, and fought from 3-5 down in the second to seal a second WTA Tour title with a 6-2, 7-5 victory in an hour and 43 minutes.
In front of a limited crowd, the quality of tennis from both women was high from the very early stages of the match though it was Ferro who struck early on with a break in the opening game. Kontaveit could not take her own break point chances as the Frenchwoman consolidated for an early 2-0 lead, and back-to-back double faults from the Estonian down 2-4 helped hand Ferro a decisive double break lead. The fourth seed fought valiantly as she looked to work her way back into the set but could not consistently break through Ferro, who converted a seventh set point to claim the opener in 40 minutes.
After being broken early on in set one it was Kontaveit who was able to gain the first break in set two to lead 2-0, though inconsistent serving allowed Ferro to immediately level up. The match looked as if it was about turn when, at 3-3, the fourth seed saved multiple break points and then broke for a 5-3 lead, though Kontaveit was unable to force a decider as Ferro fought back to 5-5. With some momentum behind Ferro was able to secure a second straight break to lead 6-5, and held from 15-30 down to cap off an impressive week with the title.
It had been five months since a final had been contested on the WTA Tour and it was certainly a great final to welcome professional tennis back. Ferro showed great composure all week, backing up wins over home players Sara Errani and Camila Giorgi in the past two rounds to win her second WTA title, having previously claimed victory in Lausanne last summer. The Frenchwoman had already secured a top-50 debut with her run to the final, and will be the world number 44 when the rankings are updated on Monday; a ranking that could help her seal a seeding at the US Open.
Meanwhile, it will be a disappointing defeat for Kontaveit. The Estonian did not play badly by any stretch, though will rue not taking advantage of her 5-3 lead in set two. She has now lost five of her six career finals.