Two Germans in the final for a rematch
K. Witthoeft, ranked 72nd in the WTA standings and the tournament’s top seed, won 7/5 6/1 against her compatriot Tatiana Maria, 85th and already a finalist in 2007. The previous week, Tatiana had won in straight sets at the Marrakech tournament.
The start of the match seemed to suggest a similar scenario with Tatiana’s dominance, who quickly led 3/0 by offering a very varied game in terms of speed of trajectories, their height, their direction, and spin.
But the young Karina, an attacker, adapted very well by also offering some sliced backhands that she had rarely used in the tournament and a long-line backhand attack to come back to 4-3. She began to lead 5-4 on a double fault by Tatiana, who knows how to stay patient in building points and be offensive to pressure her opponent and break back to make it 5-5.
Then Tatiana lacked consistency, especially on two poorly executed sliced backhands, and was led 6-5 then 7-5 on two magnificent attacks by Karina. Broken at the start of the second set, she quickly showed some signs of fatigue, with less physical commitment in her shots, trailing 3-0 then 5-1 with a forehand into the bottom of the net and two volleys attempted more to shorten the point than having really built it.
Congratulations to K. Witthoeft, 20 years old, who won her 7th title against the combative T. Maria, who defeated Pauline Parmentier in the semifinals and Y. Putintseva (tournament winner in 2012) in the quarterfinals.
Congratulations also to Pauline Parmentier, the Frenchwoman, who had a very good tournament where she offered an effective attacking game from the baseline and on serve. She may have some regrets about the 2nd set against Tatiana Maria, a very complete player who defended Pauline’s beautiful offensives to perfection, but also counter-attacked and advanced to the net.
In doubles, Johanna Konta (GBR) and Laura Thorpe (FRA) won 1/6 6/4 10-5 against Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith (GBR).
We must also commend the wonderful organization of this tournament, which each year offers a warm and professional welcome to the players.
