Western & Southern Open—Cincinnati, OH, U.S.A.
Qualifier Caroline Garcia won the biggest title of her career on Sunday in Cincinnati, Ohio, defeating two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-4. Needing one hour and 42 minutes to seal her victory, Garcia hit 11 aces, won 82 percent of her first serve points and broke serve on three occasions.
Winning her fourth match in nine encounters versus Kvitova, Garcia dismissed Maria Sakkari, Jessica Pegula and Aryna Sabalenka en route to the finals. Moving up to No. 16 in the world, Garcia will next see action at the Cleveland Open next week.
Kvitova, who was playing in her 40th career final, dispatched Ons Jabeur and Madison Keys earlier in the week. The Czech star will be ranked No. 21 on Monday.
Later in the day, qualifier Borna Coric captured his 3rd career title and first since 2018 in Halle, Germany after he stunned No. 4 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(0), 6-3.
Needing one and 57 minutes to prevail, Coric overcame a 0-3 deficit in the first set and never looked back.
Using his fierce backhand and potent serve to great effect, Coric slammed seven aces and won 84 percent of his first serve points, and broke serve on three occasions. With the victory, Coric also improved to 2-1 against Tsitsipas in lifetime meetings.
Coric, who entered the event ranked No. 152 in the world, dismissed Rafael Nadal, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Cameron Norrie earlier in the tournament. The Croatian will be ranked No. 29 in the world on Monday.
Tsitsipas, who defeated top seed Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals, will be ranked No. 5 in the world on Monday.
