It has happened before that someone has won a trophy at the first WTA tournament of her career. There have also been examples of a lucky loser winning a WTA tournament. But to do both at the same time, well, that didn’t happen until Sunday.
Maria Timofeeva made her mark and in the final, beating Kateryna Baindl 6:3, 3:6, 6:0, she received 280 ranking points, moving her up to place 117 in the world rankings. Last Sunday, she looked like packing her bags as she lost in the second round of qualifying – but then, she made a big comeback. She is only 19 years old..