Former world No. 15 Kaia Kanepi returned to the winners’ circle after collecting her first title of the year on French soil at W25 Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.

The 35-year-old Estonian, whose previous three tournament appearances in 2020 had come at Grand Slams, collected her first professional title since December after defeating Britain’s Harriet Dart in the final of the ITF World Tennis Tour event.

Kanepi’s 6-4 6-4 win over Dart was her second straight win over a Brit, having also beaten 21-year-old Jodie Anna Burrage in straight sets in the semi-finals.

The former world No. 109, a quarter-finalist at three of the four Grand Slams (Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open), has played just four tournaments this year – at the WTA event in Brisbane and the Australian Open, where she fell in the first round, and in second round runs at the US Open and Roland Garros.

Her triumph over the weekend was her 16th ITF singles title – and her 20th professional singles title overall, having also claimed four at WTA level.

Elsewhere, Egypt’s Sandra Samir claimed her second title of the season after winning at W15 Sharm EL Sheikh – a week after falling in the final at the same location.

Samir, 22, defeated Chinese Taipei’s Joanna Garland 6-4 6-2 in the deciding match to collect her fifth career title in Sharm El Sheikh. Eleven of Samir’s 12 ITF titles have come on Egyptian soil.

Maria Lourdes Carle continued her steady improvement during a three-week stint at W15 tournaments in Monastir, following up on her semi-final and runner-up finishes in the first two weeks by winning her sixth career title.

The 20-year-old Argentine defeated Poland’s Weronika Falkowska 6-3 2-6 6-1 in the final to win her second title of the year, having also won at W15 Cancun in February.

In the week’s final women’s event, Beatriz Haddad Maia continued her impressive run of results on Portuguese soil, winning the fourth title of her comeback from an anti-doping ban at W15 Funchal.

The 24-year-old Brazilian, who has compiled a dominant 27-2 win-loss record on the ITF World Tennis Tour since her return to competitive play at the end of August, defeated home hope Francisca Jorge 6-3 6-3 in the final.