Bejlek triumphs in Colina for first WTA 125 title of career

Unseeded Czech teenager Sara Bejlek took home the first WTA 125 title of her career on Sunday, storming past No.5 seed Diane Parry of France 6-2, 6-1 to win the LP Open by IND in Colina, Chile.

Bejlek, the 17-year-old left-hander currently ranked No.194, defeated 21-year-old Parry in 1 hour and 11 minutes to capture the highest-level title of her career so far. Bejlek has already won six ITF Challenger titles in her career as well.

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Bejlek now leads 104th-ranked Parry 3-0 in their head-to-head (6-0 in sets). On Sunday, Bejlek was particularly solid returning the Parry second serve, winning 64 percent of those points. Parry, by contrast, won 35 percent of second-serve return points in the match.

Bejlek broke for a 4-2 lead in the opening set by following up a lob with an overhead winner. Bejlek then swept to a love hold for 5-2 but needed six set points in the next game before breaking serve for the one-set lead.

In the second set, Bejlek slammed a forehand winner down the line to break for 3-1, then fended off five break points in the following game to consolidate for 4-1.

Bejlek’s forehand remained the key shot for the rest of the clash, and she converted her first championship point with another down-the-line winner off that side.

Bejlek beat three seeds this week — No.6 seed Anna Bondar in the first round, No.3 seed Nadia Podoroska in the semifinals and No.5 Parry in the final. Three of her five victories went three sets, including a narrow 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 win over Panna Udvardy in the quarterfinals.

On Saturday, No.3 seeds Julia Lohoff of Germany and Conny Perrin of Switzerland claimed the Colina doubles title by defeating unseeded Lucciana Perez Alarcon of Peru and Daniela Seguel of Chile 7-6(4), 6-2 in the final.

Lohoff and Perrin had two set points at 5-3 in the first set, but Perez Alarcon and homeland hope Seguel battled back, holding their own set point at 6-5. Lohoff and Perrin regrouped and took the first-set tiebreak before closing out the final after 1 hour and 27 minutes.

Colina marks the first WTA 125 final and title for both Lohoff and Perrin. Lohoff has previously been a doubles champion on the Hologic WTA Tour, winning WTA 250 Lyon in 2020 alongside Laura Ioana Paar.