Luxembourg's Mandy Minella, ranked #133 by the WTA, has won the Women's Singles Championship at the BOL Open tennis championships in Croatia, an inaugural WTA 125K Series event.
After defeating Evgeniya Rodina of Russia in the first round, 6-3, 1-6, 7-7, she then overcame the 2nd seed Vavara Lepchenko of the USA, 6-1, 6-7, 6-4. In the quarter-finals she defeated unseeded Marina Erakovic of New Zealand, 7-5, 6-4 and, in the semi-finals, was leading 6-3, 6-1 against 5th seed Ana Konjuh of Croatia before her opponent retired hurt.
In was in the final, though, that she recorded her most comfortable win, 6-2, 6-3, against Slovakia's 7th seeded Polona Hercog to claim the championship in a match that lasted 83 minutes.
"I feel incredible," Minella said after the match. "I did not feel I would win a tournament in this season. I was not playing well, but it did good in training. Now I am in a good form and I am very happy."
Mandy Minella won USD 20,000 for her efforts and is also accredited 160 WTA ranking points.
