Lois Boisson of France collected another milestone in her breakthrough season by winning her first Hologic WTA Tour singles title at the MSC Hamburg Ladies Open on Sunday.
In a battle between two first-time WTA singles finalists, No. 5 seed Boisson defeated No. 7 seed Anna Bondar of Hungary 7-5, 6-3 in the WTA 250 clay-court final. Boisson was down breaks in both sets, but battled back on each occasion to triumph in straight sets.
A season of firsts:Â Boisson, of course, came onto the global radar when she stormed into last month’s Roland Garros semifinals as a wild card in her Grand Slam main-draw debut. Ranked No. 361 at the time, she set numerous records with her run and became the top-ranked Frenchwoman immediately after that result.
Boisson followed up by losing her first qualifying match at Wimbledon, but back on clay, she has returned to her winning ways. Currently ranked a career-high World No. 63, she will improve that placement in Monday’s updated PIF WTA Rankings.
Match moments: In Sunday’s final, 77th-ranked Bondar got off to a hot start, zooming ahead by a double-break at 4-0. The Hungarian served for the set at 5-2, but she was unable to close in that game, and Boisson took full advantage.
Boisson pulled back on serve at 5-5, then avoided a late stumble by saving three break points to hold for 6-5. The Frenchwoman wrapped up her first-set comeback with another service break, winning the last five games in a row.
Valeria Witters/MSC Hamburg Ladies Open
In the second set, Boisson hit one of her 10 double faults to give Bondar the early break at 2-1. However, the Frenchwoman deployed a deft dropshot winner to earn a love break and pull back on serve at 3-3.
Incredible defense by Boisson helped her scrape through a mesmerizing rally to break for 5-3. Serving for the championship, Boisson used some strong deliveries and power plays to fend off a break point in the last game and grab her first WTA title.
More to come…