Marcinko leaps back into world's top 200 after rebuilding form in Rome
Seventeen-year-old Petra Marcinko won her first title of the season in some style on the ITF World Tennis Tour, cantering to victory on clay at W60 Rome without dropping a set.
The Croatian collected her fourth professional singles title – and the second biggest of her fledgling career to date – after beating Italian Georgia Pedone 6-2 6-2 in Sunday’s final.
The 2021 ITF Junior World Champion had enjoyed a blistering start to her professional career last year, collecting her first three titles and becoming the youngest player in four years to win a W80 tournament when she triumphed in Poitiers in October.
But though she peaked at No. 161 in the WTA rankings in March, Marcinko has endured a challenging 2023. She slipped back to No. 262 in the world in late May, having progressed beyond the second round at just three of the 10 tournaments she had contested this year prior to last week.
Constructing a route to the top of the sport is long and arduous but Rome, of course, wasn’t built in a day. The teenager has at least firmed up the foundations with a solid week in the Italian capital, leaping back into the top 200 on Monday as a result at No. 195.
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W60 Rome was one of five W60 tournaments held last week as part of the ITF’s commitment to provide more higher-level playing opportunities in the women’s game.
Former world No. 39 Fiona Ferro returned to the winner’s circle at W60 Biarritz, claiming her most significant title in almost three years on French clay.
It was her sixth clay court triumph, and follows the two biggest wins of her career to date at WTA tournaments in Lausanne in 2019 and Palermo in 2020.
There were also standout wins for 19-year-olds Elvina Kalieva and Tatiana Prozorova, who won at W60 Ricany and W60 Madrid, respectively, and 23-year-old Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva who triumphed on US hard courts at W60 Sumter. All three claimed their first W60 titles.
Sixteen women’s tournaments took place across the ITF World Tennis Tour last week, ranging from Colorado to Tianjin. Discover all the results here.
The Tour's headline event is back on grass this week, with W100 Ilkley taking centre stage. Follow the results and watch live here.