Ekaterina Makarova completed a dream victory on grass Saturday as the 100th ranked qualifier won her first WTA title with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 defeat of Victoria Azarenka at the Eastbourne International.
The Russian champion finally triumphed after coming up short in two clay finals last season. The defeat was the second in a final for Azarenka this year, after going down to Venus Williams in Dubai four months ago on hardcourt.
Makarova will advance to inside the top 70 in Monday’s rankings to mark the start of Wimbledon. The winner came through qualifying and the main draw without losing a set and becomes the first unseeded titleholder at Devonshire park since Chandra Rubin in 2002.
“I cannot understand yet that I won,” said Makarova. “I’m a bit in shock, especially that I didn’t lose a set. This is just unbelievable to me, I cannot believe that I did it.
“I really like the grass and I enjoyed the tennis here.” The 22-year-old Makarova beat a more experienced opponent who was suffering with a left knee injury which gradually wore down her reserves.
The Russian broke early for 3-0 but had to withstand an Azarenka fightback which took the Belarus player form 5-2 down to 5-5 in the first set.
As the contest eventually went to a tiebreaker, Makarova again seized the initiative. But the first of her three set points at the waterside venue had to be re-played due to distractions from a seagull. But the Russian earned the set after 66 minutes on her third opportunity.
In the second set, the fading Azarenka went down a break in the fifth game and surrendered the match on the first of two Makarova match points.
The winner saved ten of the 11 break points she faced in a contest which lasted for almost two hours.
“Victoria is an unbelievable player, but maybe I was a bit lucky today,” said Makarova.
