Paula Badosa overcame Barbora Krejcikova 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-4) in a thrilling final after 2 hours and 22 minutes in the third-set tie-break to win her third WTA Tour title out of three final at the Sydney Tennis Classic.
Badosa held a 2-0 lead in her head-to-head matches against Krejcikova. The Spanish player beat her Czech opponent by the same scoreline of 6-1 7-5 in Madrid on clay and in Indian Wells on hard court.
Badosa claimed her two biggest titles in third-set tie-breaks in the final beating Victoria Azarenka at Indian Wells last October and at the WTA 500 tournament in Sydney today.
Badosa hit three consecutive aces to hold serve for 3-3 and earned her first break in the seventh game. The Spaniard sealed the opening set with a break at love with service returns in the ninth game.
Krejcikova earned a crucial break with a winning forehand to take a 5-4 lead in the second set and served out the second set at 15 in the next game to draw level to 1-1 on sets.
Badosa opened up a 2-0 lead with a break in the second game of the third set, but Krejcikova broke straight back at deuce in the third game. Both players went on serve with no more breaks in the next games en route to the tie-break.
Badosa earned an early mini-break to take a 4-2 lead in the tie-break, as Krejcikova missed a down the line forehand. The Spaniard hit a strong backhand to draw an error from Krejcikova to open up a 5-2 lead and converted her second match point to close out the tie-break 7-4.
Anna Danilina and Beatriz Haddad Maia came back from one set down to beat Vivian Heisen and Panna Udvardy 4-6 7-5 10-8 in the doubles final. Danilina and Haddad Maia took a 9-2 lead in the match tie-break, but Heisen and Udvardy fended off six consecutive match points to claw their way to 8-9. Danilina and Haddad Maia converted their seventh match point to seal the title after 1 hour and 35 minutes.
