Paula Badosa beats Barbora Krejcikova, clinches Sydney Tennis Classic title
What's the story
Spanish player Paula Badosa has won the 2022 Sydney Tennis Classic title by defeating would number four Barbora Krejcikova in the final at the Ken Rosewall Arena.
This is her first Sydney Classic title and third WTA trophy overall.
She won the match 6-3, 4-6, 7-6.
Sydney International is a 500 WTA event.
It is a tune-up event for the 2022 Australian Open.
Context
Why does it matter?
Badosa came to the Sydney event after getting knocked out from the first round of Adelaide International by Victoria Azarenka.
With this result, she has improved her win/loss ratio to 6-1 in 2022, which is a good sign for her going into the 2022 Australian Open.
The Sydney trophy will also work as a confidence booster for her ahead of the first Grand Slam.
Final
Badosa prevails after two hours and 22 minutes of play
Badosa won the first set 6-3 by collecting 57.7% points on serve and 53.8% on returning serve.
She served six aces as compared to one by Krejcikova and made two double faults.
Krejcikova took the second set, by converting 63.3% serves and collecting 50% on returning serve.
The third set was a back and forth affair as Badosa won the tiebreak.
Badosa
Badosa's route to the final
Badosa defeated Latvian player Jeļena Ostapenko in the first round 7(7)-6 (1), 6-1.
In the second round, she bested Croatian-Australian player Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-4.
Badosa overpowered Swiss player Belinda Bencic in a hard-fought match in quarters 7(8)-6(6), 3-6, 6-3.
In the semi-finals, she got the better of rising Russian star Daria Kasatkina in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 at the Ken Rosewall Arena.
Krejcikova
Barbora Krejcikova's road to final
Barbora Krejcikova started her campaign with a straight-set victory over Romanian player Jaqueline Cristian 6-1, 7-5 in the round of 16.
In the quarters, she dismantled France's Caroline Garcia in straight sets 6-0, 6-2 at the Ken Rosewall Arena.
She came from a set down to defeat Estonian player Anett Kontaveit in the semi-finals 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (14-12).
Numbers
Paula Badosa's career highlights
Paula Badosa is currently ranked nine in WTA rankings.
She has won her third singles title in her career after the Belgrade Open (2021) and Indian Wells (2021).
In her last WTA event, Adelaide International, she was knocked out in the round of 32 by Belarusian player Victoria Azarenka.
She attained her career-high eighth ranking in November 2021.
Stats
A glance at Krejcikova's career
Barbora Krejcikova will head into the Australian Open as the number four ranked player.
She won her first Grand Slam in 2021 at Roland Garros.
Overall, she has won three titles in her career.
The two other WTA titles are - Strasbourg Open (2021) and Prague Open (2021).
She has finished as runner up twice - Dubai Open (2021) and Nurnberg (2017).
Wins
Badosa maintains 100% record
This was the third head-to-head meeting between the two players. Badosa has a 100% record against Krejcikova.
She had earlier won in Madrid and Indian Wells in straight sets.
Badosa's two biggest titles - Indian Wells and Sydney - were decided in a final set tiebreak.
As per WTA Insider, Badosa has won her last 10 tiebreaks.
Twitter Post
Badosa lifts her third career title
😘🏆@paulabadosa | #SydneyTennis pic.twitter.com/gLimqeVzIZ
— wta (@WTA) January 15, 2022