DUTCHWOMAN and second seed, Kiki Bertens pulled no punches in a 6-1 6-3 smacking up-and-coming Kazakhstan talent, Elena Rybakina in the final of the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy. The world number eight successfully defended her 2019 title in Russia, holding onto eighth spot and maintaining the gap on her nearest rival – Serena Williams.

It was Bertens’ tenth title, and sixth in the past three years, backing up from her triumph here in 2019, as well as a win in Madrid. While she did not move up in the world rankings due to just defending her points, the 20-year-old Rybakina certainly did. She continued to enjoy career-high rankings having entered the top 30 for the first time last month, and now the 25th ranked player has bolted inside the top 20 to 19th overall.

The match itself lasted only 74 minutes as the experienced second seed won comfortably in the end, serving six aces and breaking four times in a complete performance. Bertens won 79.4 per cent of her first serve points off an efficiency of 64.2 per cent, while saving all of Rybakina’s five break point opportunities. She was much stronger on return and it showed, winning 59.1 per cent of points off Rybakina’s second serve. In the end, Bertens was a little too strong, with the Kazakhstani building a nice career over the past two years, having won in Bucaharest last year, and already this year made two finals and won another title at Hobart.