Timea Bacsinszky routed Marina Erakovic, dropping just three games, in the final of Rabat to win her first title of 2016.
Bacsinszky starts out fast, cruises to first set triumph
Erakovic was making her first appearance in a WTA final since 2013 in Quebec City and the nerves showed as the New Zealander dumped serve immediately to open the match. Her first three games were long, totaling 27 points and featuring six break points, to which she saved four, but a second break at 1-3 down all but gave the set to Bacsinszky, who was cruising on her own serve, losing just four points in the opening set. Her most troublesome game came serving for the set at 5-2 when Erakovic was able to get to 30-all, but the Swiss was able to put the opening frame away 6-2.
Bacsinszky breezes through second set, claims fourth career WTA Tour title
Bacsinszky won in Acapulco and Monterrey last year, her first titles in six years as well as reaching her first major semifinal at the French Open, and her confidence showed as the match progressed. A surprisingly easy hold for Erakovic to open up the second stanza was not a portent of things to come as that would turn out to be her only game of the set and last of the match, the world number 186 overwhelmed. Like the first set, Bacsinszky converted on three of her six break points. Her serve was even more efficient in set two, losing just two points while putting away her fourth career title.
Bacsinszky efficient, solid and impressive all week in Rabat
The final was a microcosm of Bacsinszky's week in Rabat. She lost just one set all tournament to Kateryna Kozlova in the second round. Other than that set, only Timea Babos in the second set of the semifinals was even able to take five games off the Swiss in any set. Bacsinszky's return was in top form, converting 27 of her 44 break points while dropping just 35 games. The Swiss number two also triumphed for the first time on clay as her three previous titles all came on hard courts.
Erakovic has breakthrough week late in her career
Injuries have seen the New Zealander nearly fall out of the top 200, but she experienced a late breakthrough in Morocco. Despite losing badly to Bacsinszky, Erakovic came through qualifying to reach the final, the third such instance of this happening this year, following Elena Vesnina in Charleston and Laura Siegemund last week in Stuttgart. The result should catapult Erakovic close to the top 120, with a return to the Top 100 not too far off in the future.