Swinging through the 60s: Birrell seals third ITF W60 title

Kimberly Birrell enjoyed a landmark triumph on the ITF World Tennis Tour on Sunday – claiming her first professional title on international soil at W60 Orlando.

The 24-year-old Australian defeated Swede Rebecca Peterson 6-3 6-0 in the final in Florida for her third title at ITF W60 level, adding to her wins at W60 Darwin in 2018 and W60 Playford in 2022.

It continues a fine start to the year for Birrell, who won her first Grand Slam match in four years at the Australian Open last month.

She was rewarded with a new career-high ranking of No. 136 on Monday and becomes the Australian No. 3, behind Ajla Tomljanovic and Daria Saville.

Elsewhere, Oceane Dodin and Greet Minnen continued their fine form on the ITF World Tennis Tour.

Dodin, named the ITF World Tennis Tour Player of the Month for January, improved to 18-1 for the season after winning her second W60 title in as many weeks, and third title in four tournaments, at W60 Grenoble.

For the second consecutive week, the 26-year-old beat French compatriots Audrey Albie and Jessika Ponchet en route to the title, ultimately defeating Swiss Simona Waltert 6-2 7-5 in the final.

The former world No. 46 is now in touching distance of a return to the world’s Top 100, at No. 102.

Minnen, meanwhile, won her second straight title on the ITF World Tennis Tour, with the Belgian following her triumph at W60 Sunderland at the end of January with victory at W40 Porto, where she overcame Croatia’s Tara Wurth 6-2 6-2 in the final.

Catch up on all the weekend's results on the ITF World Tennis Tour here