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| The picturesque Bad Gastein venue |
Nürnberger Gastein Ladies
Country: Bad Gastein, Austria
Surface: Clay (Red)
Draw: 32 players
Tier: International level Event
WTA Ranking points: 280 WTA ranking points
This must be one of the most beautiful tournaments in the world, surrounded by green forests and the Alps mountain range. It's a breathtaking venue, where the last four champions at this event includes, Yvonne Meusburger, the first Austrian to win in Bad Gastein, before her Alize Cornet, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Julia Goerges and Andrea Petkovic.
Five years ago, Andrea Petkovic came into the tournament without having won back-to-back matches on tour and she made it all the way to capture her maiden WTA title. They say history has a way of repeating itself, and this year, it threated to repeat here, in the form of Shelby Rogers. Shelby, at 22, also had not won back-to-back matches on the WTA tour, but the picturesque Bad Gastein venue must have inspired the WTA rising star, who won through qualifying and all the way into the final... it looked like Rogers’ maiden title was on the cards.
Rogers, with apparent ease, took care of 2nd seed Sara Errani in the semi-finals, 7th seed Camila Giorgi in the quarter-finals and 3rd seed Carla Suarez-Navarro in the second round, winning all in straight sets. If she could get past 4th seeded Petkovic in the same fashion that she dismissed the 2nd and 3rd seeds, it was on.
It was not to be though, brimming with confidence due to her fantastic performances this year, Petko, as she is fondly called by her fans, outclassed her younger counterpart to capture the title in a rain interrupted final with a 6-3, 6-3 victory in an hour and 13minutes.
After lower back, right ankle and knee injuries, totalling to 9 months combined off the tour since 2012, caused Andrea to drop to #143, Petkovic showed again this week why she’s a former top 10 player. With a title in Charleston, a semi-final appearance at the French Open, and 3rd round at Wimbledon, where she fell to the eventual runner up, Eugenie Bouchard, she made her way back into the top 20 last week. Yesterday’s victory pushed Petkovic up to 18, as she continues her steady climb back towards her career high of #9.
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| Andrea Petkovic holding her 2nd Nürnberger Gastein trophy |
Her total career title tally now stands on 4 and yesterday’s victory also marks the first time that Petkovic has won more than one title in the same year.
Rogers’ final appearance also sends her 43 spots up the rankings to a career high of #104. Another rising star to keep our eyes on.
Karolina Pliskova and Kristyna Pliskova, the Czech twins defeated Andreja Klepac and María-Teresa Torró-Flor for their second doubles title together, making them the only twins on the women’s tour to win any doubles titles together.
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