Winner's Circle: Alexandrova wins maiden title in Shenzhen

This week, we shall relive Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova battle as she fought her way to become the first champion on the WTA Tour of 2020.

Having captured the WTA 125K Series event in Limoges a few weeks prior, Alexandrova was entering Shenzhen with a lot of momentum.

The 5th seed extended her winning streak by dispatching of Katerina Siniakova 6-4 6-4 in an hour and a half.

She followed this with a 7-6(7) 6-1 victory over China's Shuai Peng. With top seed Belinda Bencic falling in her opening match against Anna Blinkova, the window of opportunity was wide open.

Nonetheless, a few strong players still remained in the field, namely Aryna Sabalenka (2), Elise Mertens (3) and Garbine Muguruza (6). Sabalenka and Mertens were upset in the second round and quarterfinal respectively, with Alexandrova defeating fourth seed Qiang Wang 3-6 6-4 6-3 to advance to the semifinals.

Alexandrova faced two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza in the semifinals. Having lost their sole previous encounter (Wimbledon 2017), the Russian made quick work of her Spanish opponent. She brushed past Muguruza 6-4 6-3 to face seventh-seeded Kazakh Elena Rybakina, who defeated Kristyna Pliskova 6-2 7-5 in the other semifinal match.

The pair had never previously met on the WTA, although Rybakina was competing in her third final in six months. Alexandrova was able to neutralize Rybakina's previously impeccable first serves, and quickly raced to a 4-0 lead.

The first set was over in half an hour, and Alexandrova stifled a brief Rybakina comeback in the second to claim her maiden WTA title, prevailing 6-2 6-4 in 73 minutes.

Having claimed the first WTA title of the decade, Alexandrova also reached a career-high in rankings. The Russian moved up eight spots from World No.34 to No.26 and extended her winning streak to 10 straight matches.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j13wb-kSIis[/embed]