The Russian Diana Shnaider (47th), 20 years old, won the first WTA 500 tournament of her career, Saturday in Bad Homburg (Germany), beating the Croatian Donna Vekic (49th) in the final, in three sets 6-3, 2 -6, 6-3.
The young Russian, who is playing her second season on the main circuit, won in just over two hours, two days before her first round match at Wimbledon against the Czech Karolina Pliskova (42nd).
She also won the second major title of her career after her final victory in Hua Hin (WTA 250) in February against the Chinese Zhu Lincurrently ranked 60th in the world.
During the first set on Saturday, Diana Schneider was solid on her play, saving nine break points, and only needed to take the serve once. Donna Vekic.
The Croatian right-hander, who turned 28 on Friday, finally found an opening on the serve of Schneider from the start of the second set, which allowed him to take a 3-0 lead before equalizing at one set each (6-2, in 34 minutes).
Vekic seemed to continue his momentum by winning the first game of the deciding set but Schneider hung on until 3-3 before making the difference, concluding with a final fault at the net from her opponent, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
The Croatian, who was aiming for a 5th title on Saturday, will face the Chinese in the first round of Wimbledon. Xiyu Wang51st world.
