Daria Kasatkina has claimed her second WTA title of the season after battling past compatriot Mirra Andreeva in the final of the Ningbo Open.

Kasatkina, who was seeded fifth in the draw, held her nerve to claim a 6-0, 4-6, 6-4, victory over the world No.19 in what was a rollercoaster match. At one stage, the Russian lost nine games in a row and was trailing 0-3 in the decider before fighting her way back to secure victory. Kasatkina has now won two WTA 500 events this year with her other triumph occurring in Eastbourne. The only player to have won more titles than her in this category is Elena Rybakina who has won three.

“It’s been a very, very tough week, honestly,” Kasatkina reflected afterwards. “All the matches were super tough. In the quarterfinal I came back from two match points down, and today from 3-0, almost 4-0 [down] in the third set.

“So this trophy means a lot because I worked on many challenges during this week, and I’m really proud of myself.”

It is the third match this week that the 27-year-old has been taken to three sets. The other two were against Katerina Siniakova and Yulia Putintseva. However, her semi-final clash with Paula Badosa ended after one set after the Spaniard retired injured.

Meanwhile, a bitterly disappointed Andreeva burst into tears during the trophy presentation. She was bidding to win only the second WTA trophy of her career and the most prestigious to date.

“I saw you crying a lot, it’s okay, you’re gonna have a lot more finals,” Kasatkina told Andreeva.

“I hope we can share some of them.”

Kasatkina has won eight WTA titles in her career so far and will return to the WTA top 10 on Monday as a result of her latest triumph.

Dutch joy in Japan

At the Osaka Open, Suzan Lamens claimed her first WTA title at the age of 25 after winning her showdown against fellow qualifier Kimberly Birrell.

The world No.125 stormed to a 6-0, 6-4, win over the Australian to become only the second player in 2024 to win a WTA event as a qualifier after Great Britain’s Sonay Kartal. It is a fairytale week for Lamens who had only beaten a top 100 player twice in her career coming into the tournament.

“It couldn’t have been better for me and I love to play here,” Lamens said.

The Dutch player had to play two matches on Sunday after her semi-final encounter was postponed due to poor weather the previous day. Before taking on Birrell, Lamens also beat No.7 seed Diane Parry 6-2, 6-4. Overall, she has dropped only one set in seven matches played at the tournament which was against Ana Bogdan in the quarter-finals.

Lemens will break into the top 100 on Monday for the first time. Currently, the only player from her country in the top 100 is Arantxa Rus.