World No.1 Iga Swiatek clinched her eighth title of the year on Sunday, fending off a brave effort by qualifier Donna Vekic to prevail 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 and win the San Diego Open.
Top-seeded Swiatek needed 1 hour and 47 minutes to claim the 11th WTA singles title of her career with her tour-leading 64th match-win of the year.
Swiatek was the steadier player in the first set, pulling errors from Vekic to achieve the only break at 4-2 en route to the one-set lead.
However, Vekic’s aggressive attitude paid off in the second set as she used top-notch backhands to force errors from the World No. 1 and secure the sole break point of the match at 3-2.
Vekic broke for 4-2, then won the ensuing frenetic rally with a passing winner to win the set.
In the end, Swiatek came out blasting in the third set, wrapping up lengthy rallies with point winners to clean through the bagel and enhance to 3-0 against Vekic.
Earlier on Sunday, No.1 seeds Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula overpowered No.2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Giuliana Olmos 1-6, 7-5, [10-4] in a 1-hour and 20-minute final to capture the San Diego Open doubles title. (ANI)
