Ireland’s Amy Bowtell upset top seed Marta Sirotkina to take the Aegon GB Pro Series Sunderland ITF
Having already beaten the No.2 and No.3 seeds on her way to the final, Bowtell made it a clean sweep of the top three seeds as she took the final in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.
After the game, the 21-year-old said: “It’s my first tournament of the year so I’m really happy to start the year really well.”
The first set was a case of two contrasting serves. Bowtell’s powerful service game, which included five aces ensured that her games didn’t last too long. Top seed Sirotkina on the other hand, struggled with her serves, but somehow managed to hold her serve until the tenth game.
In what turned out to be the final game of the first set, Sirotkina’s errors finally caught up to her as she faulted on both her serve and her ground strokes to give Bowtell the game and the set 6-4.
Bowtell’s strong serves seemed to have an effect on the Russian.
“Maybe she felt some pressure from me serving so well that she had to hold her serve,” said the Ireland number 1 after her straight set victory.
The same pattern continued in the second set as the eighth seed from Dublin continued to send in unstoppable aces and the Russian struggled with her serve.
By the fourth game, Bowtell had broken Sirotkina’s serve and quickly raced into a 4-1 lead.
Serving at 4-2, Bowtell made two straight double faults and admitted that she “got a little bit nervous”, but still managed to take the game.
Bowtell explained: “I didn’t want to start thinking about the fact that I might win but I was a little bit as I am not expected to win.”
But there was no signs of nerves in the final service game, as the 21-year-old, who will represent Ireland in the Fed Cup, closed out the game and claimed her fifth title.
By SportsByte
