Bassols Ribera ends season in style with W80 Valencia triumph
Marina Bassols Ribera ended a whirlwind six months in style by winning the biggest title of her career on the ITF World Tennis Tour at W80+H Valencia on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Spaniard defeated Swiss Ylena In-Albon 6-4 6-0 at the clay court event to collect her third title of 2022 and close her season at a career-high No. 121 in the world.
Bassols Ribera, who was ranked outside the Top 300 as recently as June, began her late-season surge with a 10-match winning streak on home soil through June, beating rising star Alexandra Eala in the final at W60 Madrid, before seeing off Frenchwoman Jessika Ponchet in the title match at W25+H Palma Del Rio.
The milestones continued through the latter portion of the year as she went on to mark her Grand Slam qualifying debut with a win over Britain’s Sonay Kartal at the US Open and, having lost to In-Albon in the quarter-finals at W80 Madrid earlier in November, she then ended 2022 in style by beating the Swiss at the next opportunity in Valencia to claim her eighth ITF World Tennis Tour title.
“What a way to finish the season,” Bassols Ribera posted on Instagram.
“It's been a year of being almost 400th in the rankings… and finishing it among the top 120 in the world and the 6th in Spain. I wouldn't have imagined this six months ago, and not for lack of work. I am very happy and satisfied with my evolution this year…”
Elsewhere, Ana Konjuh extended her winning streak on the ITF World Tennis Tour to 10 matches after following up her W60 Bratislava title with victory on Italian soil at W25 Ortisei.
The Croatian, who is giving her tennis career one more shot after persistent elbow problems – and surgeries – over the last decade, collected her fourth ITF singles title after seeing off Viktoria Kuzmova 3-6 7-5 7-6(2).
Over in Luxembourg, Mona Barthel ended a five-year wait for silverware with victory at W25 Petange. The 32-year-old German, who had also finished runner-up at W25 Helsinki the previous week, defeated Daria Snigur in straight sets for her first tournament victory since she won the WTA event in Prague in 2017.
It was also a significant week for youngsters Amelia Rajecki, of Great Britain, and Aliona Falei, who both collected their first professional singles titles.
Catch up on all the weekend's results from the ITF World Tennis Tour here