Diana Shnaider upsets Lin Zhu in Thailand for first WTA title

Field Level Media|published: Sun 4th February, 13:39 2024

Sep 1, 2023; Flushing, NY, USA; Lin Zhu of China reaches for a forehand against Belinda Bencic of Switzerland (not pictured) on day five of the 2023 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. credits: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Russian teenager Diana Shnaider won her first WTA Tour title on Sunday, topping defending champion Lin Zhu in the finals of the Thailand Open in Hua Hin.

Shnaider, 19, defeated the No. 2 seed Zhu of China, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 in 1 hour and 59 minutes. She also eliminated top seed Magda Linette of Poland and third seed Xinyu Wang of China at the tournament.

Ranked No. 108, Shnaider is now 2-0 against No. 45 Zhu in her career. On Sunday, she converted all five break-point opportunities and won 63.6 percent of her second-serve points. Zhu won just 37.1 percent of her second serves.

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Top seed Jelena Ostapenko won for the first time in Linz, defeating No. 2 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 6-3 in the finals for her second WTA Tour singles title this year.

Ostapenko of Latvia won in 70 minutes over Russia's Alexandrova, the 2018 runner-up, and earned her eighth career singles title on the tour. Ostapenko, 13-2 this year, also won in Adelaide last month.

Ostapenko was a finalist the last time she played this event in 2019, losing to Coco Gauff for the American's first WTA title. She dominated Alexandrova in winners, 28-15.

—Field Level Media