WTA First as Unheralded Buyukakcay Wins Istanbul Title

Cagla Buyukakcay became the first-ever player from Turkey to win a WTA title when she defeated No. 5 seed Danka Kovinic, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 for the TEP BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup title.
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“It’s an incredible week for me to win the title at home, to break into the Top 100 with this tournament, to play against someone with my crowd,” said the unseeded Buyukakcay. “I was playing better and better every day, but of course every day is another day, so I didn’t expect to win at the beginning of the week.”

The 26 year old was the first player from Turkey to reach the semifinal stage of a WTA event.

“This is a tournament I’ve been playing since 2005, when I was 15, and I saw the best players at this tournament when I was young,” she said. “So I dreamed of winning the title since then — it’s very special for me.”

After leading 5-3, 40-0, Buyukakcay needed five match points to finally close it out.

Kovinic dropped to 0-2 in career finals.

“As I think everyone could see, I was really tired today,” Kovinic said after the match. “I really wanted to win this one, but it wasn’t enough because my body couldn’t follow my mind. In the end, I’m a bit disappointed but I wasn’t 100% fit today.”

Kovinic then pulled from the doubles final with a hamstring injury, taking runner-up with partner Xenia Knoll to Ipek Soylu, and Andreea Mitu.

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