ISAEVA WINS FIRST ITF TITLE AT W60 NUR-SULTAN

Anhzelika Isaeva picked a good event to win her first professional singles title – triumphing at the W60 Nur-Sultan event on the ITF World Tennis Tour to rocket 270 places in the rankings.

The 21-year-old from Yekaterinburg climbed to a career-high No. 390 on Monday after winning seven matches on the bounce at the Kazakhstan tournament, coming through qualifying to reach the final, where she outlasted Greet Minnen (who retired injured after dropping the opening set 6-4).

All seven of Isaeva’s match-wins last week came against players ranked above her – and included three Top 200 scalps in Minnen, Mariam Bolkvadze and Kurumi Nara.

Isaeva, whose only previous appearance in an ITF singles final was on Lithunian soil at W15 Vilnius in June 2021, was a good junior – winning two ITF girls’ singles titles and reaching a high of No. 35 in the world.

Minnen's retirement, meanwhile, brought an end to a nine-match winning streak that had taken in her first singles title in three years at W60 Altenkirchen a week earlier. The Belgian had also reached the quarter-finals at W60 Grenoble the previous week.