At this week’s WTA 125 events, accepting a wild card in France worked out perfectly for Naomi Osaka, while Dalma Galfi and Bianca Andreescu picked up titles in Spain.
Here’s what took place at the clay-court WTA 125s over the weekend:
Wild card Osaka captures Saint Malo title
Former World No. 1 Osaka of Japan collected the first WTA 125 title of her career on Sunday, defeating Kaja Juvan of Slovenia 6-1, 7-5 to win the L’Open 35 de Saint Malo title in Saint Malo, France.
Of course, Osaka has been a significant champion in her career, winning four Grand Slam titles and three additional titles on the Hologic WTA Tour. But she had not won a singles title at any level since her most recent Grand Slam at the 2021 Australian Open.
That all changed this week after Osaka took a wild card into the event as the No. 2 seed. Osaka dropped one set apiece to French hopes Diane Parry and Leolia Jeanjean, but she moved through the draw smoothly otherwise.
Fun fact: this was not Osaka’s first WTA 125 final. She finished runner-up to Yaroslava Shvedova at WTA 125 Hua Hin in 2015, nine-and-a-half years ago.
Meanwhile, a quick shout-out goes to former Top 100 player Juvan, who ended a 12-month hiatus from tour in January and has already reached a WTA 125 final.
The Saint Malo doubles title was won by No. 1 seeds Maia Lumsden and Makoto Ninomiya. They beat No. 2 seeds Oksana Kalashnikova and Angelica Moratelli 7-5, 6-2 in Saturday’s final.
Galfi claims Vic title, winning streak up to 10
Hungary’s Galfi had never won a WTA 125 title until she hoisted the trophy at Oeiras last month. Now she has won two.
On Saturday, Galfi swept past Rebeka Masarova of Switzerland 6-3, 6-0 to win the Catalonia Open title in Vic, Spain. Galfi is currently in the midst of a 10-match winning streak.
This was a completely dominant week for surging Galfi. She did not lose more than four games in a set during her run through Vic.
Galfi, who was a World No. 1 junior a decade ago, is arguably in the hottest form of her professional career. Three weeks ago she was ranked No. 149, but she is now projected to return to the Top 100 in Monday’s updated PIF WTA Rankings.
Meanwhile, an additional Grand Slam champion took a wild card this week and ended it with a title. 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu paired with Aldila Sutjiadi to win the Vic doubles title.
Andreescu and Sutjiadi defeated Lulu Sun and yet another Grand Slam finalist, Leylah Fernandez, 6-2, 6-4 in Friday’s Catalonia Open doubles final.
