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Andrea Petkovic defeated Mayar Sherif in the Winners Open final on Sunday to win the seventh title of her career. The German posted a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory in just 61 minutes against the Egyptian who was playing the first final of her career.
Petkovic didn’t face any break points and converted five of the 10 break points she had on Sherif’s serve. Speaking with the media after her win, Petkovic said, “I feel so happy. It feels much longer than six years because so many things happened in the six years.
I was ready to retire, I almost did retire, I started five new jobs! Now being back to what I love most, tennis, and winning at it, is just the best feeling. I’m the happiest person in the world right now”.
Winners Open: Andrea Petkovic savours a trophy anew
Petkovic had quite a slow start to her 2021 season and in a couple of tournaments, failed to get past the qualifying stage.
However, her season’s had a turnaround in the three tournaments post-Wimbledon. The former world no. 9 first reached the final at the Hamburg Open (lost to Elena-Gabriela Ruse) before making it to the semi-final at the Belgrade Ladies Open (lost to Arantxa Rus).
Her win in Cluj-Napoca marked her 12th win in the 14 matches she’s played across these three events. Despite her dominant finish in the final in Cluj-Napoca, Petkovic had quite a trip to the final, unlike Sherif who’d not lost a set in the four previous rounds.
Petkovic also needed to win two matches on Saturday after her quarter-final had to be suspended in its final stages due to lack of sufficient light on Friday evening. Her title at the Winners Open is also Andrea Petkovic’s fifth on clay.
Meanwhile, despite her loss, Mayar Sherif still had a lot of reasons to be happy as she climbed 22 spots in the WTA ranking and made her debut in the top-100, in the 97th place. Photo Credit: Winners Open Twitter