19 year old Sophie-An Mestach captured the women’s singles title at Sunderland Tennis Centre on Sunday with a 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Victorija Golubic.
The 2nd seed from Ghent, Belgium, got off to a flying start powering her way through the opening set in double quick time. Her dominance continued when racing to a 5-2 lead in the 2nd set, but Golubic threatened a comeback breaking the Mestach serve at 5-2, then holding to take the score to 5-4. Mestach, serving for the title for a 2nd time, went 30-0 up, but was then pegged back to 30-30, however, some aggressive tennis in the next 2 points ensured the Belgian captured her first title of 2014.
Speaking after the match Mestach, who was the number 1 ranked junior in the world in January 2011 as a 16 year old said ‘ I had never seen Victorija play until we met in Australian Open qualifying earlier this month, and this definitely helped me with my tactics today. I am really pleased to capture my first title of the year, and am now looking forward to playing some WTA Tour events over the next few months’.
The presentation ceremony saw both players receiving action photos kindly provided by Nick Clark Imaging, plus juniors from Sunderland Tennis Centre who had competed in a mini red tournament, and the winners of the ball crew fastest serve competition were also presented on court.
Both players now turn their attention to representing their countries (Belgium, and Switzerland) in the Fed Cup in early February.