The first time’s the charm for Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor…
The 21-year-old Spanish tennis player, competing in her first WTA final, defeated Switzerland’s Romina Oprandi 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on Sunday in the Grand Prix SAR final to claim the first WTA singles title of her young career.
After missing the Australian Open with a leg injury, Torro-Flor arrived in Morocco with only three wins to her name this year, but was in devastating form to reach Sunday’s final as she defeated two seeds without dropping a set.
In the final, Torro-Flor broke for a 5-3 lead in the first set but dropped serve at 2-1 in the second as Oprandi evened the match.
The 71st-ranked Spaniard then broke Oprandi twice in the final set to lead 5-1 but wasted a chance to serve out the match.
Both players were in their first final. Torro-Flor had won their only previous meeting two years ago in Bucharest.
Torro-Flor broke into the Top 100 in October 2012. Her previous best result was a semifinal appearance at the Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan in 2013.