Federer, Pliskova, Riske, Stosur Win ATP/WTA Titles

Federer Wins 1st Shanghai Title, Rises to No. 2

Roger Federer made good on his semifinal victory over world No. 1 Novak Djokovic a day earlier, in the Sunday final defeating unseeded Gilles Simon 7-6(6), 7-6(2) for his career-first Shanghai Rolex Masters crown.
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“It makes me very happy winning here because this tournament means a lot to me,” said Federer, who will rise to No. 2 in the ATP Rankings. “I’ve always enjoyed coming here. I’ve come close a couple of times, but I’ve always wanted to win it as a Masters 1000…Especially putting my hands on the trophy for the first time is a good feeling, I must say.”

The 33-year-old won his fourth title of the season and his second Masters title this year after Cincinnati. In his opening-round match he saved five match points against Leonardo Mayer. Simon fell to 0-2 in Masters-level career finals, but will climb back into the Top 20 after upsets over Stan Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych en route to the final.

Riske Wins 1st WTA Title at Tianjin

No. 6-seeded American Alison Riske won her first WTA title on Sunday, defeating fellow first-time WTA finalist Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the Tianjin Open in China.

“It’s a huge accomplishment for me to win my first WTA title,” Riske said, “and I was here by myself, which made it even more special, just to know that I was able to do it by myself.”

Riske lost only one game in her semifinal against Zheng Saisai. The 17-year-old Bencic was trying to become the youngest player to win a WTA title since 15-year-old Tamira Paszek at 2006.

Stosur Rebounds for Japan Women’s Open Crown

Top-seeded Sam Stosur won her third career Japan Women’s Open Tennis title on Sunday, defeating first-time WTA finalist Zarina Diyas 7-6(7), 6-3.

“It’s great to win a title, and I left it pretty late to try and win one this year, so better late than never,” said Stosur after claiming her first title of the year. “But I really love playing this tournament. Three times now — it’s just a great feeling to come back here each year, and if you win the title then it’s even better, obviously.”

Half of Stosur’s six career titles have now come in Japan. The Kazakhstani Diyas will compete in the WTA Rising Stars Invitational event in Singapore in conjunction with the BNP Paribas WTA Finals.

Pliskova Rallies to Beat Giorgi for Linz Title

Czech Karolina Pliskova saved a match point in defeating Italian Camila Giorgi 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-6(4) for the title at the Generali Ladies Open on Sunday.

Pliskova led 5-1 in the third before dropping five straight games. Fighting off a match point at 5-6, she broke to force the tiebreak and edge out the match.

“It’s an amazing feeling to come back from a match point,” said Pliskova, who received medical treatment for a left thigh injury in the third. “Camila is a great player and she played some great shots to get back into the match.” Pliskova improved to 3-3 in career finals and won her second title of the year. Giorgi fell to 0-2 in finals on the year and for her career.

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