09/11/14
Luz Esperanza Merry clinched her third senior women’s doubles title of 2014 in Balma as the 14-year-old world No. 5 ranked junior joined forces with Frenchwoman Emmanuelle Morch to secure victory, having bowed out to Morch, the eventual champion, in the women’s singles semi-finals.
Merry and Morch, the women’s doubles top seeds, had a bye into the semi-finals and then beat French duo Evelyne Claverie and Pauline Helouin 6-3, 6-4 before going on to defeat Mexican second seeds Claudia Taboada and Rosalba Vazquez in the final.
Merry opened her singles campaign with a comfortable 6-0, 6-1 win over Cathy Portier of France and put in a tremendous effort against second seeds Morch, who eventually won their semi-final 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-6(3) after a final set tie-break.
Last month Merry claimed her first senior women’s singles title in Wrexham shortly before her 14th birthday. That result left her on the verge of achieving her first senior top 50 ranking and she went on to make her debut inside the world’s top 50 on 20 October, three days before her birthday.