Merida Open: Sonmez beats Li to win first career title
Sonmez defeated American Ann Li in straight sets in Sunday’s final
Zeynep Sonmez, Tokyo 2024
Image Credit: Aflo / Panoramic
Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez won the WTA Merida Open title by defeating American Ann Li 6-2, 6-1 at the Yucatan Country Club on Sunday.
This is the first WTA singles title for Sonmez, who had never been to a WTA Tour-level quarter-final prior to this week. Sonmez also becomes the first Turkish player in over eight years to win a WTA singles title (Cagla Buyukakcay won the Istanbul title in 2016).
Both players had completed their semi-final victories earlier in the day due to rain causing the rescheduling of Saturday’s semi-finals.
In the previous rounds of the tournament, Sonmez, ranked No 127, beat Argentinian Maria Lourdes Carle, the No 6 seed (5-7, 6-1, 6-2), Frenchwoman Elsa Jacquemot (7-6 (3), 6-3), Mexican Renata Zarazua, the top seed (3-6, 6-3, 6-4) and Russian Alina Korneeva (7-6 (5), 6-2).
Li, ranked No 111, defeated Spaniard Nuria Parrizas Diaz, the No 8 seed (6-0, 6-4), Croat Antonia Ruzic (6-2, 6-2), Swiss Jil Teichmann (6-1, 6-1) and Russian Polina Kudermetova (6-3, 4-6, 6-2) earlier in the week.
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