Tennis: Mihaela Buzărnescu wins her very first WTA tournament, in San Jose

Romanian tennis player Mihaela Buzarnescu on Sunday won her very first WTA title of her career, after clearly defeating Greek Maria Sakkari, 6-1, 6-0, in the final match at San Jose (California), equipped with total prizes worth 799,000 US dollars, acoording to Agerpres.

Buzarnescu (WTA's 24), seed no. 5, needed 1 hour and 13 minutes to defeat her opponent and win an important trophy for her, at WTA Premier level, after losing the WTA finals at Hobart and Prague, both this year.

Aged 30, Mihaela Buzarnescu will be now able to reach to WTA top 20, continuing thus a formidable ascent, which she started last year. The Romanian was ranked 540th in the world in early 2017 and 139th exactly one year ago (August 7, 2017).

Maria Sakkari (23 of age, WTA's 49), who played her first WTA final, did not stand a chance in the final played against Mihaela.

The Romanian scored two aces, committed 3 double faults, but she never lost one point on her serve (she saved four breaks), with her final percentage being excellent in what concerns the points she scored on her serve (79%). Buzarnescu had 11 winners versus 7 her opponent and committed 23 unforced errors, compared with Sakkari's 34.

In San Jose, Buzarnescu defeated Sachia Vickery in the first round of the competition, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, American Amanda Anisimova (16) in the round of sixteen, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1, Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, 6-1, 7-5, in the quarterfinals, and Belgian Elise Mertens, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, in the semifinals.

Mihaela Buzarnescu received a cheque worth 136,695 US dollars and 470 WTA points for her performance in San Jose. For her doubles semifinals she will also receive 6,255 US dollars and 185 WTA points.