Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova needed three sets to subdue Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu on Sunday and win the Berlin Open title, completing an improbable run to her first trophy since her London triumph two years ago.
The 25-year-old Czech player, who had dropped to 164th in the world after an injury-plagued 12 months, was playing her first final since winning Wimbledon in 2023.
“We were all working really hard to get me back, and I felt like, you know, we came here to try to win the first match, and now this is happening,” Vondrousova said after winning her third career title. “So I’m just very grateful to be standing here and very grateful for you guys.”
She was made to work hard for a 7-6 (10), 4-6, 6-2 victory that included saving six set points in the tight first-set tiebreak.
“Nice to see a full crowd. I really enjoyed the tennis week and the support,” Vondrousova said. “… I feel like it could not have been better for us here. We were all working really hard.”
Wang, who had to battle through the qualifying process and beat four top-20 players to reach her first tour final, kept causing problems with her pinpoint accuracy as she fired repeated baseline winners.
Vondrousova’s serve looked unbreakable until Wang earned her first break point in the seventh game, breaking Vondrousova, who slipped and hurt her ankle. But Vondrousova came back to snatch the tiebreak after Wang wasted six set points.
Wang, 23, showing few nerves, leveled the match after breaking her opponent once in the second set.
But Vondrousova, who beat Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the first round and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals, raced back with two breaks of her own to go 4-1 up in the decider.
She then played a perfect service game at 5-2, with a superb dropshot, a crosscourt backhand winner and a powerful forehand that forced an error by Wang on the first match point.
Wang defeated former champion Liudmila Samsonova in the semifinals to reach her first final. Earlier, she ousted Daria Kasatkina, Coco Gauff and Paula Badosa after qualifying.
“It’s been an unbelievable week for us. And I just, we keep on building and looking forward for the next one,” said Wang, who had only 10 wins this year before appearing at the grass-court tournament.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
