No. 86 Olga Danilovic claimed her second career Hologic WTA Tour title on Sunday after defeating No. 101 Caroline Dolehide 6-3, 6-1 in the final of the Guangzhou Open presented by AVATR. The title is the first that the 23-year-old Serbian has won on a hard court.
Danilovic dropped just one set during her Guangzhou title run, beating Erika Andreeva, Diane Parry, Mananchaya Sawangkaew and top seed Katerina Siniakova in the semi-finals. Before this week, Danilovic had yet to advance past the round of 16 in a hard-court event on the tour.
“I’m very happy. The way I played all week, all tournament,” Danilovic said. “I’m very proud of myself and my team. I showed what I can do and I think I showed myself the most.
“So I’m very happy and very excited to end the season this way.”
While Danilovic’s week in Guangzhou was surgically efficient, Dolehide had to work hard. The 26-year-old reached the final after two consecutive three-set victories. Two of those wins came in a third-set tiebreak, and less than 24 hours earlier, Dolehide survived four match points to beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (9) in the semifinals .
Including qualifying, Dolehide spent more than three hours more on the court than Danilovic. The fatigue was noticeable in the final. Danilovic improved her record against the American to 3-0, but this was her first match that needed only two sets.
Danilovic broke first in the first set and his ability to maintain pressure on Dolehide’s serve proved to be the difference. While she herself only lost serve once, Danilovic broke Dolehide’s serve five times in the match. Danilovic’s flatter shots kept Dolehide in the running and when the American tried to attack the net, Danilovic’s counterattacking shots were almost automatic.
In doubles, top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Zhang Shuai claimed the Guangzhou title, defeating Katerina Piter and Fanny Stollar 6-4, 6-1. Siniakova and Zhang did not lose a set during the week and Piter and Stollar were the only team to win more than 3 games against them in a set.
The victory is world No. 1 Siniakova’s 27th career doubles title, fifth of the season and first with Zhang. For former No. 2 Zhang, this is her 14th career doubles title and first of the season. Before Guangzhou, Zhang reached three finals this year, in Soulel and Birmingham with Miyu Kato and at the US Open with Kristina Mladenovic.
