Frech downs Gadecki in Guadalajara for first WTA title

GUADALAJARA: Magdalena Frech captured her first WTA tour title on Sunday, beating Australian qualifier Olivia Gadecki 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to lift the trophy in Guadalajara.

It’s the latest big moment in a breakthrough season for the 43rd-ranked player from Poland. She reached her first singles final in the clay court tournament in Prague last month, and then reached her first hard court quarter-final in Monterrey before going all the way to her first hard court final in this 500-level event.

Neither player broke serve in a neck-and-neck first set. They were 5-5 in the tiebreaker when Gadecki fired a service return wide to give Frech a set point, which she seized on Gadecki’s forehand error.

Gadecki gained the first break of the match to open the second set, but Frech earned the decisive break for 5-3. Frech faltered in her bid to serve out the match but broke again to seal it. “I just want to say that dreams do come true,” Frech told the crowd as she accepted her trophy and tried to balance a big sombrero that came with it on her head.

“It’s my first WTA title and it’s really, really amazing,” added the 26-year-old, who won a lower-level event in Massachusetts in 2021. Her triumph denied 152nd-ranked Gadecki, who was playing in her first tour-level final after a run that featured wins over former US Open champion Sloane Stephens and second-seeded Danielle Collins. Gadecki’s runner-up finish means the 22-year-old Aussie will break into the top 100 in the world rankings for the first time.