Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan) won the title of the WTA 250 Rothesay Classic Birmingham. In the final match, she defeated Ajla Tomljanovic (Australia) by 2-0 (6:1, 7:6).
Yulia Putintseva, who is the world’s No 41, easily won the first set of the match, achieving three breaks against the Australian player.
In the second set, the 31-year-old Ajla Tomljanovic led by 5:3, but allowed an equalizer to 5:5 and 6:6. In the decisive tiebreak, Yulia Putintseva needed three match points to end the match at 10-8 after an hour and a half of play.
The title is the third overall in the career of the Kazakhstani tennis player from the WTA tournaments. The previous two championship trophies for her were on clay in Nuremberg in 2019 and in Budapest in 2021.
“I don’t know exactly how I feel because I didn’t expect all this that happen. It’s great, but it’s also confusing because I’ve always been strong on clay. Now I’m also strong on grass courts. I think I’ll be fine with that great feeling. I performed strongly in this match, after a more than good start. Ila also showed her class and didn’t give me a chance to think about anything. In the end, the fight was definitely more than equal and I was just a little bit lucky”, said Yulia Putintseva after the final at the WTA 250 Rothesay Classic Birmingham.
Ajla Tomljanovic played her first final in a WTA tournament in the last five seasons. The Australian tennis player, who is a former world number 32, has five defeats in her five final appearances so far. She missed almost all of 2023 with a knee injury.