Kontaveit overtook Halep in Cluj-Napoca in the fourth championship of the year

Anett Kontaveid’s awesome season-ending form has captured the best robberies of her career after winning the Transylvania Open opening tournament on Sunday.

No.2 seed from Estonia won first place and home favorite Simona Halep from Romania 6-2, 6-3 to get the doubles championship brisk after 1 hour and 10 minutes of play. Kontaveit did not drop a set in the tournament either.

Reaching his fourth title of the season (all of which have come in the last 10 weeks), Kontaveit will reach the last remaining place in the Akron WTA Finals in Guadalajara, becoming the first Estonian player to survive the year-end championship. He is also predicted to make his Top 10 debut in Monday’s singles rankings.

Quick facts: Kontaveit has been dominant at the end of this year. He has now won a whopping 26 of his last 28 matches, including the last 10 in a row, which includes consecutive championships in Moscow and Cluj-Napoca.

In this summer’s hard field season, Kontaveit had won 1-6 in the WTA doubles final, and his only championship came in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2017. However, the Estonian finally returned to the winner in Cleveland the week before the US Open. , and this victory triggered his dominant stretch.

Kontaveit followed the championships in Ostrava and last week in Moscow. Her six finals this year have been tied for the most on tour with world number one Ashleigh Barty.

Statistics corner: Because of his history, Kontaveit had a challenge to grab a new match win, as former world number one Halep had won all three of his previous encounters.

But Kontaveit wasn’t bothered by the crooked competition, even though he had so much in line. The Estonian hit 21 winners in Halep’s nine and won a whopping 55 percent of the points by returning Halep’s first bid, leading to five assists.

Notable quotes: “I’m still unsure of what’s going on!” enthusiastic Kontaveit said at a news conference. “Of course I’m incredibly happy that I managed to play really well today and win the final. It was the main focus and I’m really, really proud of myself that I succeeded in that.”

“I believe in myself a little more than a couple of years ago, and I tried to be aggressive, but also consistent, and I don’t go too far,” Kontaveit said of his first win at Halep. “I think he’s such a good player, and I really tried to focus only on myself and not think about the three times I had lost to him. I just took it as a new challenge.”

“He definitely deserved to win the match,” two-time Grand Slam champion Halep said in the post-match press. “I just tried to extend it a bit, but I couldn’t. But a lot of positives this week: playing in the finals after a hard year, it’s always welcome. Although it’s a smaller trophy, it’s a trophy, so I’m happy, I’m happy with how I played this during the week.”

Highlights: After saving a break point and holding 2-1, Kontaveit took the reins, relying mainly on his strong palm to collect the next three games and lead 5-1. Halep grabbed one break, but it wasn’t enough, as Kontaveit broke the lot again.

Halep led 2-0 in the second set, but it remained short-lived when Kontaveit hit the second hand with a winner at the baseline and hit 2-2. The Estonian continued to score his goal accurately and earned a second break 4-2 when the successor’s return winner found the line straight.

Rough Halep used his best to prolong the match and fought off three championship points before holding a 5-3 ace. However, in the next game, Kontaveit shot two consecutive hand-beat winners to collect three more championship points. The dazzling irrevocable pass ended the win at his first chance.

Bara, Gorgodze demand a duel title

Romania made it to the title on Sunday when domestic hope Irina Bara teamed up with Georgia’s Ekaterine Gorgodze to win the Transylvania Open opening doubles championship.

Seedless Bara and Gorgodze edges No. 2 seeds Aleksandra Krunic from Serbia and Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove from Holland, 4-6, 6-1, [11-9] 80 minutes in shock to capture the crown.

It was a milestone for both Bara and Gorgodze, as they both won their first WTA championship in either doubles or doubles. Bara actually competed in her first WTA final.

Gorgodze had once finished second in the WTA doubles match, alongside Arantxa Rus in Palermo in 2019. Gorgodze and Rus fell to Cornelia Lister and Renata Voracova in the final.