Birrell caps ‘awesome’ few weeks in Japan with Fukuoka triumph
Kimberly Birrell capped an ‘awesome few weeks’ in Japan with the sixth title of her career on the ITF World Tennis Tour at W75 Fukuoka.
The 26-year-old Australian defeated Emina Bektas 6-2 6-4 in the title match - two weeks after a quarter-final run at W100 Tokyo - to turn the tide on a torrid run of form in 2024.
Birrell had been on an eight-match losing streak before touching down in Tokyo in late April, struggling to find a result during a run that began with a second-round loss at the WTA event in Hobart in early January.
Her performances in Japan have delivered a welcome confidence boost – with a doubles title at W100 Tokyo (alongside Sujeong Jang) and a runner-up finish with Rebecca Marino at W100 Gifu at the turn of May adding to her encouraging recent run.
View this post on Instagram
Birrell’s singles triumph at W75 Fukuoka was the fourth of her career at the $60,000-or-higher prize money level, seeing her become just the second Australian woman (after former world No. 4 Jelena Dokic) to win four titles at W60 level or above on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
Birrell underwent two bouts of surgery on her right elbow between July 2019 and January 2022 and has designs on a double-digit ranking, having come so close – reaching a career-high ranking of No. 100 – last September.
The Australian was one of six players to win an ITF W75 title this weekend, along with Americans Claire Liu and Akasha Urhobo, Dominika Salkova, Meiling Wang and Moyuka Uchijima.
Uchijima is in standout form. The 22-year-old from Japan won on a hard court at W100 Gifu the previous week and extended her winning streak to 10 after triumphing on clay this weekend at W75 Trnava. It was her fourth title of the season and 12th on the ITF World Tennis Tour overall.
Click here for all the latest results on the ITF World Tennis Tour