Mertens downs Li to win Singapore Tennis Open

SINGAPORE: Elise Mertens clinched her first WTA title in 17 months on Sunday (Feb 2) as the second-seeded Belgian beat unseeded Ann Li in straight sets to win the Singapore Tennis Open.

Mertens was beaten by McCartney Kessler in the Hobart International final last month but the 29-year-old was in fine form at the Kallang Tennis Centre, landing 75 per cent of her first serves to overpower the American 6-1, 6-4.

Li did not drop a set during her run to the final but struggled with her serve early in the match as Mertens took full advantage, earning three service breaks to take the opening set in 26 minutes.

The American was broken again in her first service game of the second set but dug deep to break Mertens for the first time in the next game and began to find her groove on her own serve.

However, while serving to stay in the match at 5-4 down, Li made a pair of unforced errors to hand the title to the Belgian after an hour and 22 minutes.

Mertens was delighted with her ninth career singles title on the WTA Tour and first since the Monastir Open in Tunisia in October 2023.

"It's a really nice title at the beginning of the year - and especially after not getting the title in Hobart three weeks ago. I was very eager to win this one," said the world number 32.

"I felt very comfortable on this surface and very comfortable in Singapore this week, so I took advantage of that and it gave me a lot of good energy."

In the doubles final, second seeds Desirae Krawczyk of the United States and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico took the title after defeating the third-seeded Chinese pair of Wang Xinyu and Zheng Saisai 7-5, 6-0.