NUMBER one seed Russian, Ekaterina Alexandrova has continued her stranglehold on the Open BLS De Limoges event, with a straight sets win over unseeded Belarusian, Aliaksandra Sasnovich in just 56 minutes. In a tournament that saw the seeds fall often and early, Alexandrova was the sole remaining seed from the remaining eight, but it helped her win her way through to her third title in four years, accompanying her 2016 and 2018 triumphs.

Along the way, Alexandrova had to overcome 2017 winner, Monica Niculescu in the first round, but enjoyed a seedless run to the final, not dropping a set since being taken to three by Niculescu. In the final it took the Russian less than an hour to knock off Sasnovich, who had earned her place in the final following a terrific tournament. Saving her best until last, Alexandrova slammed home seven aces and just one double fault, controlling her service games to win 80.8 per cent of points on her first serve, and a superior 64.3 per cent on her second serve. Sasnovich could not contain her opponent, who attacked the Belarusian’s serve to restrict her to just 58.3 per cent points won on her first serve, and a lowly 21.1 per cent on her second serve.

Alexandrova saved one of two break points, but capitalised on three herself during the 6-1 6-3 victory, with the win being the quickest of the tournament to ensure she wrapped up another title in France. It was the second time Alexandrova had got the win in the head-to-head, and while neither have a WTA Singles title – of 250k or above – Alexandrova has proven to be a dominant player at the end of year event and the warm-up will hopefully hold in good stead for the Australian summer. The victory also moved Alexandrova up into the top 40, back to her career-high ranking of 35th to end the year.

A finals appearance in the doubles for the Russian also saw her move into the top 100 in that format, teaming up with Georgian, Oksana Kalashnikova to reach the last match there. They were no match for the Spanish pairing of Georgina Garcia Perez and Sara Sorribes Tormo, who took out the title 6-2 7-6 for the pair to move up to 88th and 45th respectively in that format. Now the players can take a well-earned break before looking to the Australian circuit next month.