Bektas claims first win in four years in Las Vegas
Emina Bektas completed a near-perfect week on the ITF World Tennis Tour, winning the singles crown and finishing runner-up in the doubles at W60 Las Vegas.
The 28-year-old American emphatically defeated Japan’s Yuriko Lily Miyazaki 6-1 6-1 in the final to claim the fourth ITF singles crown of her career, only narrowly missing out on a double triumph when she and British partner Tara Moore (who also happens to be her wife) fell 7-6(5) 7-5 to American Quinn Gleason and Slovakian Tereza Mihalikova.
Bektas, who has achieved greater success in doubles having already collected 20 ITF doubles titles, including five this year (three of those alongside Moore), could celebrate her first singles title since she won at W80 Albuquerque in 2017.
So what was the secret to her five straight sets victories in Vegas?
“I think it’s the altitude,” said Bektas, who’s last tournament-victory four years ago was also a high-altitude event. “I had an amazing week here. It was so great finally being able to play in front of a crowd, so I just want to say thank you to everyone who came out today.”
Runner-up Miyazaki still had plenty to celebrate despite the one-sided final.
“This is my first $60,000 final and before this the best I had done was maybe second round,” said the London-based world No. 255. “When I came and saw the draws I thought this was a great opportunity for me to do well.”
Like Bektas, a graduate of the University of Michigan, Miyazaki is also a former college tennis player having played tennis at Oklahoma University from 2015 to 2018.
“For me the college experience really prepared me to be a pro,” said Miyazaki. “There are many paths you can take, but I’d encourage anyone considering college tennis to definitely do it.”
As well as Bektas, there were two other American winners of women’s tournaments on the ITF World Tennis Tour over the weekend, with Catherine Harrison winning at W25 Redding and Katerina Stewart claiming the title in an all-American final at W15 Hilton Head.
Clara Burel and Harmony Tan secured a double French triumph, with former junior world No. 1 Burel winning at W25+H Cherbourg-en-Contentin and Tan winning at W25 Loule.
Czech Anna Siskova, 20, won the other W25 title on offer last week in Lima, Peru, while there were W15 titles for Swiss Sebastianna Scilipoti, German Lena Ruppert, Korean Yeonwoo Ku and Latvian Darja Semenistaja.