Sorribes Tormo defeats Eugenie Bouchard for maiden title in Guadalajara

• What happened? Sara Sorribes Tormo defeated Eugenie Bouchard for the Guadalajara Title
• Key stat: Bouchard dropped to 1-7 in WTA finals with the loss.
• You will also learn: Sorribes Tormo will rise to a career-high ranking on Monday.

Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo put on a break point saving clinic in the opening set and went on to topple Genie Bouchard for the Abierto Zapopan title in Guadalajara, 6-2, 7-5. The 24-year-old was incredible under pressure, saving seven of seven break points in the first set to frustrate Bouchard, before battling through a seesaw second set to claim her maiden WTA title.

Sorribes Tormo, the No 4 seed, dropped her first set of the tournament in a tiebreaker against Greet Minnen in her opening match but won the next ten sets to close out her run.

Bouchard was competitive in both sets, but never seemed to summon her best tennis when she needed it.

Sorribes Tormo did serious damage on Bouchard’s second serve in the opening set, winning 11 of 14 points against it (16 of 24 overall), and broke twice on her five opportunities to take the first set.

Bouchard took out her frustrations on her racquet after falling behind 5-2, receiving a point penalty as she had been handed a warning moments earlier when she swatted a ball out of the stadium.

In a rare display of anger, Bouchard demolishes her racquet after falling behind a double break in the first set.

Every game has been tightly contested, but the big points haven’t been going her way. Sorribes Tormo to serve for the set, *5-2. pic.twitter.com/dCYnvejidL

— Tennis Canada (@TennisCanada) March 14, 2021

The second set saw Bouchard turn the screws a bit and after two trades of breaks she found herself serving at 3-3. After a hold and another break, Bouchard had pushed the lead to 5-3, but she stumbled from there, with Sorribes Tormo in lockdown mode, the 27-year-old Canadian dropped the final four games of the match.

Top 60 for Sorribes Tormo

Sorribes Tormo will break into the top 60 for the first time in her career as a result of the title. She had recorded a career-high ranking of 62 on January 25th, and is projected to rise to No 58.

Before this week, Sorribes Tormo struggled in big matches at tour-level. She had lost 10 of her first 12 WTA quarter-finals and both of her previous WTA semi-finals.

Bouchard will also get a bump from 144 to a projected 116 in the rankings on Monday. The former world No 5 has not been inside the top 100 since July of 2019. She is, however, approximately 100 spots higher in the rankings than where she began 2020 (224). Bouchard drops to 1-7 lifetime in finals with her loss, with her only title coming at Nuremberg in 2014.

🏆 FIRST TITLE FEELS 🏆

Congrats @sara_sorribes 🇪🇸

Your 2021 @AbiertoZapopan Singles Champion! pic.twitter.com/ytFE54Mhex

— wta (@WTA) March 14, 2021