Mertens beats Ruse to win Den Bosch title
DEN BOSCH: Belgian third seed Elise Mertens beat Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in the final of the Libema Open in Den Bosch today to claim her second WTA Tour title of the year, adding to her victory in the Singapore Tennis Open in February.
The win earned Mertens her tenth WTA singles title and first on grass, though she has won the Wimbledon women's doubles title in 2021, while also extending her winning head-to-head record against Ruse to 4-0.
"It's been an incredible week," said Mertens, who had to dig deep to save 11 match points and overcome two-times winner Ekaterina Alexandrova in Saturday's semi-final.
"I mean yesterday I had 11 match points against me. I managed to still win that match. It's tennis, anything can happen. So I'm very proud that I took that chance yesterday and today."
Mertens trailed 3-1 in the first set after being put under early pressure by the Romanian qualifier.
The Belgian recovered from her shaky start and saved two break points to secure a crucial hold in the fifth game, which turned the tide of the contest.
The set was brought back on serve at 3-3 after Ruse double-faulted twice, and Mertens quickly reeled off three more games to clinch the opener, with Ruse taking a lengthy medical timeout between the sets and having her thigh strapped.
The pair traded breaks halfway through the second set and Ruse was able to earn two set points at 5-4, but Mertens showed great resilience to hold serve and force a tiebreaker, which she powered through with little trouble.
"First of all, I would like to congratulate Elise. You beat me every time, so what can I say," said Ruse, who committed seven double faults in the match.
"I'm really sad and angry, but I will try next time... I'm very proud of myself. I didn't expect to be in the final here. It's such a nice tournament."
In the men's final later today, Canadian Gabriel Diallo takes on Belgium's Zizou Bergs. - REUTERS
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Motor racing-Russell wins in Canada after McLarens collide, Norris out
Formula One F1 - Canadian Grand Prix - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Quebec, Canada - June 15, 2025 Mercedes' George Russell on the podium after winning the Canadian Grand Prix alongside second place Red Bull's Max Verstappen and third place Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger MONTREAL (Reuters) -George Russell took Mercedes' first win of the Formula One season in Canada on Sunday while McLaren's Oscar Piastri stretched his lead to 22 points after a late collision with teammate Lando Norris that ended the Briton's race. Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who had hoped to win for a record fourth year in a row at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, took second. Russell's 18-year-old Italian rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli finished third for his first F1 podium. Piastri was fourth with the safety car leading the final lap before peeling off to clear the way for Russell to take the chequered flag. An uneventful afternoon erupted in headline drama when Norris hit the rear of Piastri's car three laps from the end -- a clash long predicted in the title battle -- while trying to overtake. The Briton, who ended at a standstill by the side of the track with no front wing and a broken car, was quick to blame himself. "I'm sorry. All my bad. All my fault. Stupid from me," he said over the team radio. Piastri pitted as the safety car was deployed and rejoined with a tyre advantage over Antonelli that he could not use as the racing never resumed. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and sixth with Fernando Alonso seventh for Aston Martin and Nico Hulkenberg bringing in more solid points for Sauber in eighth place. Esteban Ocon was ninth for Haas in their 200th race with Carlos Sainz 10th for Williams. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis and Pritha Sarkar)
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Athletics-Duplantis set for Bolt party to celebrate pole vault world record
Athletics - Diamond League - Stockholm - Stockholm Olympic Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden - June 15, 2025 Sweden's Armand Duplantis celebrates after setting a new world record, 6.28m during the men's pole vault Jonas Ekstromer/TT News Agency via REUTERS STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Sweden's Armand Duplantis said he was looking forward to a night on the town with former sprint king Usain Bolt after setting a pole vault world record of 6.28 metres at Sunday's Diamond League event in Stockholm. Duplantis cruised through the competition, clearing his four jumps up to six metres at the first attempt before raising the bar to 6.28m to break the world record he set back in February by one centimetre. That set up a wild night of celebrations with Bolt, who still holds the world records for the 100m and 200m distances. "For me it's pretty cool, actually," Duplantis told Swedish broadcaster SVT. "He said if I break the world record we can party tonight, so I'm sure it's going to be a fun night with him, but I'm just so happy." Bolt watched Thursday's Diamond League event in Oslo before taking a train to Stockholm where he said he planned to try out the nightlife. But the two track and field stars may not be alone as Duplantis had a slew of family members in attendance in Stockholm to see him break the record for the 12th time. "There were so many of them, it took me 10 minutes to hug them all!" Duplantis joked."My two brothers, my mother, my grandmother and my grandfather. It's been a few years since they had been to a competition to see me. They battled to be here. "My grandma, she wanted me to promise yesterday that I would break the world record today, so I had a lot of pressure on me to do that in front of her, and I'm glad that I could do it for her," he added. (Reporting by Philip O'ConnorEditing by Toby Davis)
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
Athletics-Swede Duplantis soars to new pole vault world record with 6.28m jump
Athletics - Diamond League - Stockholm - Stockholm Olympic Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden - June 15, 2025 Sweden's Armand Duplantis with Usain Bolt before the competition Jonas Ekstromer/TT News Agency via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. SWEDEN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SWEDEN. STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Sweden's Armand Duplantis soared 6.28 metres to break the world pole vault record at the Diamond League event in Stockholm on Sunday, the 12th time he has set a new world-best mark. The American-born double Olympic champion improved on his previous record, set in February, by one centimetre on his first attempt, making the most of the perfect conditions to delight the home crowd. Having promised fans ahead of the competition that he would try to break the record, Duplantis encouraged the crowd to get behind him from the moment his name was announced at the Swedish capital's Olympic stadium, which was built for the 1912 Games, and they responded by wildly clapping and cheering his every attempt as he cruised through the competition. Kurtis Marschall did his best to put it up to the hometown favourite, but the Australian could only manage a best effort of 5.90 before making three unsuccessful attempts to clear the six-metre mark. That left the field clear for Duplantisas the bar was raised to 6.28 for his world record attempt, and once again, the 25-year-old made it look easy, powering through his run-up before planting his pole and soaring to another world record as the stadium exploded in jubilation. Duplantis sprinted from the landing mat, tearing off his singlet to celebrate his first world record set on Swedish soil with his partner and family. In the women's 400m hurdles, Dutch athlete Femke Bol blazed away over the last 100 metres to win in a season-best time for her of 52.11 seconds, eight-tenths of a second ahead of American Dalilah Muhammad, who came second. (Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
