In a battle of WTA rising stars, Annika Beck defeated Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-2 to claim her second WTA singles title at the 2015 Coupe Banque Nationale. Beck won her first title on the indoor courts of Luxembourg less than ten months ago.
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Ostapenko and Beck have met twice before coming into this final -- with both meetings coming in 2015. Their first meeting was at the $100,000 ITF event in Contrexeville, France, which the Latvian won 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. The second meeting came just a few weeks ago in Flushing Meadows, at the US Open. Once again, Ostapenko got the better of Beck in another high quality match that went the distance, which the 18-year-old won 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. Both women are also searching for their first WTA title of the 2015 season. Coming into this match, Ostapenko had never won a WTA singles title -- let alone ever make the final of a WTA event before this week -- and Beck was searching for her second.
Beck Comes From A Break Down to Win the Opening Set
In the opening stages of this final, it was the débutante -- Jelena Ostapenko -- who got off to the brighter start. After winning five of her the first six points of the match, the Latvian looked to have settled into this match very quickly. However, the fifth seed Annika Beck responded with a break of her own, and won six points in a row to go up a 2-1 lead. From there, the server dominated the next two games before the returner got another look at a break point. Up 3-2, with Ostapenko serving, Beck had another look at a break point, and she converted it to open up a 4-2 lead. After being down an early break, the German number five was now up a break. In the following game, Beck had to save a break point but went on to hold serve and consolidated the break. Things went from bad to worse for Ostapenko as she was not able to use her chances and she was made to pay for it. Serving to stay in the set down 2-5, the Latvian faced two set points. Beck only needed one of those two set points to close out a fairly straight forward opening set, which she won 6-2.
Cool, Calm and Collected Beck Cruises to Second WTA Singles Title
The second set began with three holds of serve before the first break points of the set presented themselves. Ostapenko kept trying to hit through Beck, which never works against a counter-puncher. The German was able to use the Latvian’s power to counter whatever the 18-year-old threw at her. It was clear that Ostapenko was not playing anywhere near her best tennis, and perhaps the occasion was a little bit overwhelming for her. Using all of the experience she has gathered in the last three years of playing on the WTA tour, Beck took full advantage of her opponent’s struggles.
At 2-1, she got her first break point opportunity of the set, and wasted no time in converting it to get ever so closer to her second WTA singles title. Now leading 3-1 after getting the break, Beck quickly extended her lead to 4-1 and could begin to see the finish line. In the next game, the German was up 0-30 on the Latvian’s serve but Ostapenko fought back to keep the deficit at just one break. 4-2 quickly became 5-2 for Beck as she looked at home on the indoor hard courts of Quebec City. She was just one game away from returning to the winners' circle. Despite Ostapenko’s best efforts, she wasn’t able to do enough to stop Beck’s momentum. On her first match point, the 21-year-old German chased down everything before Ostapenko hit another ball into the tramlines. With a shriek of delight, Annika Beck had won her second WTA singles title with a clinical 6-2, 6-2 win over Jelena Ostapenko.
“I think there's all the time place for some improvement,” Beck said when reflecting on her performance in the final. “But especially to have it under pressure in the final and to be able to keep that kind of level makes me really happy.”
After the match, Beck also revealed that she has been using a new weapon this week.
“I just switched to a new racquet,” said the German number five. “It's my first tournament with the new racquet, so that gives me a lot of confidence.”
With this win, Beck will move 14 spots up the rankings to number 43 in the world -- which is her career high singles ranking. Ostapenko, on the other hand, has had a great week in Quebec City. The Latvian number one will move up 24 spots to number 78 in the world, and will break the top-100 for the first time of her young career.
Side Note: Krejcikova and Mestach Claim Doubles Title
Before the women’s singles final, the women’s doubles final was contested by Barbora Krejcikova and An-Sophie Mestach against third seeds Maria Irigoyen and Paula Kania. It was a hard-fought battle but Krejcikova and Mestach came out on top, defeating Irigoyen and Kania 4-6, 6-3, 12-10. This is the first time the Czech-Belgian duo have ever played together, and this title might be reassurance that they will compete together again soon.