Wurth wins in Split, Nahimana falls just short of dream homecoming
Croatian Tara Wurth claimed her first title on home soil – and fourth overall on the ITF World Tennis Tour - with victory over rising teen Sara Bejlek at W40 Split.
Wurth won 6-2 3-6 6-4 to secure her first W40 crown and bounce back from a runner-up finish in her last title-match at W40 Porto in February.
The 20-year-old climbed to a career-high No. 146 in the WTA rankings on Monday as a result.
Seventeen-year-old Bejlek, meanwhile, also clinched a new career-high ranking by virtue of her run to the final in Croatia, rising 14 places to No. 155 in the world.
It is the latest step forward for a promising young player who has qualified for each of the last two Grand Slams in New York and Melbourne. She is set to join up with the Czech team this week, as a replacement for the injured Katerina Siniakova, for their Billie Jean King Cup Qualifier with Ukraine on 14-15 April.
Elsewhere, Sada Nahimana was denied the perfect homecoming at W25 Bujumbura – the first professional women’s tennis tournament to take place in her native Burundi – after falling to Frenchwoman Alice Robbe in the final.
Nahimana, 21, was in fine form all week, comfortably winning four matches in straight sets to reach the final, but ultimately succumbed 6-1 6-4 to the second seed.
The home favourite, who documented her week in Burundi via a series of short videos below, will have another opportunity to win a title on home soil - and third ITF singles title of her career - at this week’s follow-up event in Bujumbura.
'There were no courts for us,’ follow Sada to her favourite hitting wall 🇧🇮@sada_nahimana is currently competing in Burundi’s first ever professional women’s tennis tournament as back-to-back W25 level #ITFWorldTennisTour events take place in the capital city. 🎾 pic.twitter.com/LO9gn3upFa
— ITF (@ITFTennis) April 10, 2023
Elsewhere last week, Timea Babos' good form on the ITF World Tennis Tour continued as she collected her first singles title in five years.
The former world No. 25, whose last tournament win came at the WTA Taiwan Open in February 2018, defeated American Whitney Osuigwe on clay at W25 Jackson. Better known for her doubles in recent years having topped the rankings in the team format, Babos has now won 10 of the 12 singles matches she has contested this season.
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