Wimbledon semi-finalist Tatjana Maria successfully defended her previous year’s title at the WTA tournament in Bogota. In the final, the 35-year-old defeated the 14-year-old American Peyton Stearns 6: 3, 2: 6, 6: 4 and thus celebrated the third win of her career in a WTA tournament.
On the way to the first WTA title for a German player in the current season, Maria had prevailed in the semifinals as number two on the seeding list against Britain’s Francesca Jones 6:3, 6:4.
Like a year ago, Colombia’s capital proved to be a good place for Maria. In 2022, the right-handed player, who was ranked 66th in the world, won the tournament as a qualifier.
Success in the first duel with Stearns was Maria’s eleventh straight win in singles games in Bogota. The Swabian woman won the first WTA title of her career five years ago in Mallorca.
In this year’s final in Bogota, a break to Maria, who was 3-1 in the meantime, paved the way for winning the first set. After that, Maria seemed to be on the best way to successfully defending her title against her opponent, who was 50 positions lower, after another break to temporarily make it 2-1 in the second round. However, she lost her two subsequent service games against the finals debutant and was forced into the third set.
In the deciding round, the decision was made in Maria’s favor with a break in the fifth service game. After 125 minutes, Maria converted her second match point.