Finally Petra Martic!
The talented Croatian wins her maiden career title in Istanbul after a fantastic run that culminated with an erratic, but successful final.
In the last act of the tournament, Petra was opposed by Marketa Vondrousova that was in top form. The Czech won the opening set 6-1. Then it was Petra to clinch a 3-1 lead in the second set after a total 8 breaks on 10 games. From that moment, Martic didn’t drop her serve anymore to win the match 1-6 6-4 6-1 in 1 hour and 49 minutes.
Hats off to #IstanbulCup champion Petra Martic! 👏🏻🏆🎾 pic.twitter.com/lEQfpJThB0
— Istanbul Cup (@istanbul_cup) April 28, 2019
“You guys kept on cheering, it really helped me to get through this match!”
Petra Martic is super happy with all the support at the @istanbul_cup! pic.twitter.com/WOiQ4qFKJu
— WTA (@WTA) April 28, 2019
I wasn’t as nervous as the other finals. MARTIC
Before Istanbul, Petra had a 0-2 win-loss record in the finals after she lost in Kuala Lumpur (2012) and Bucharest (2018). The Croatian commented
“I wasn’t as nervous than I’ve been in finals before. I just played one point at a time and didn’t look too far ahead. I managed to control my nerves more, stay pretty disciplined on the court, and focus on my game plan. That was the biggest difference in this final.”