Ajla Tomljanovic combatted the power game of Danish world No. 72 Clara Tauson with depth and consistency to overcome the loss of the opening set and prevailed with a gutsy 4-6 6-4 6-4 victory to capture the inaugural Prudential Hong Kong Tennis 125. The doubles title went to Romanian duo, Monica Niculescu and Elena-Gabriela Ruse, defeated the Japanese pairing of Nao Hibino and Makoto Ninomiya in a highly entertaining affair 6-3 5-7 [10-5].

“This tournament has been amazing from Day One. I wanna thank the Tournament Director, Peter, this is higher than a WTA 125, this is like a tour event. This has been such a nice, nice week,” said Tomljanovic, who was ranked as high as No. 32.

“Thank you to all the volunteers, ball kids, and everyone. I had some excursions early in the week, seeing the fireworks and going to the peak, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the support from everyone. It’s amazing to get a win at a place like this. You always want to do well at a place you feel good. It’s just been a dream. Thank you very much, it’s been a pleasure.”

After an 8-minute opening game, Tomljanovic breaks Tauson on her third break point to lead 1-0. On her third game point, the Aussie held to lead 2-0. In a long sixth game, Tauson finally broke Tomljanovic on her fourth break point to draw even at 3-3. Back on serve Tauson holds for 4-3. Serving to stay in the set trailing 5-4, Tomljanovic squandered a couple of game points leading 40-15, as Tauson broke in the crucial tenth game to take the opening set 6-4.

Tomljanovic came out with a renewed focus and breaks in the opening game of the second to lead 1-0. The lone break was all she needed, as she did not face a single break point the rest of the set, regaining her rhythm and smacked a backhand down-the-line screamer to strong-arm the second 6-4 to force a deciding set.

At 3-3, Tomljanovic breaks Tauson with great depth to love to move ahead 4-3. The Aussie pummels a forehand into Tauson’s right hand corner for a clean winner to hold at love, 5-3. After the Dane held her serve to peg the score back to 5-4, Tomljanovic was not going to let slip this chance and confidently held out to cement a 4-6 6-4 6-4 victory. The Aussie thus bagged her first title since winning the WTA 125 Florianopolis last November.

In terms of head-to-head meetings, Tomljanovic and Tauson were 1-1 lifetime prior to this week, with the former winning 6-2 6-3 in 2022 at Cincinnati and the latter prevailing 6-1 6-4 at Charleston in 2021. In 2021, Tauson, aged 18, defeated fellow teenager Emma Raducanu in the final to capture the WTA 125 Chicago title. Raducanu then went to Flushing Meadows as a qualifier and won the US Open.

In the women’s doubles final, the Japanese pairing of Nao Hibino and Makoto Ninomiya drew first blood by breaking in the third game only to see Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Elena-Gabriela Ruse return the favour by breaking back in the fourth and sixth games to lead 4-2. Both sides exchanged another service break before Ruse smacked an ace down the tee to hold for 6-3.

Hibino and Ninomiya won three games in a row from 2-2 to lead 5-2 in the second. However, Hibino was unable to serve it out, as Ruse came up with a number of sweetly-struck backhands to pull her team even at 5-5. After Ninomiya held to go up 6-5, Niculescu failed to convert a pair of game points on her serve at 40-15 and was eventually broken to allow the Japanese pair to take proceedings to a third set.

It was anyone’s game in the early going of the super-tiebreak until 5-5 when Niculescu and Ruse strung together a match-clinching five-point run, getting two mini-breaks off Ninomiya’s serve before Niculescu duly held to seal an entertaining, seesawing affair 6-3 5-7 [10-5]. Ruse was the difference maker today with her lively movement in the forecourt, while hitting with power and consistency from the backcourt, to handcuff the Japanese duo time and again.

As a tandem, Niculescu and Ruse reached the US Open quarterfinals and won the W100 Nottingham title in 2021. Ninomiya was a runner-up at the 2018 French Open, owns six career tour titles, and reached a career-high No. 20. Hibino held a career-high doubles ranking of No. 43 and owns three career tour titles.

Hong Kong Tennis Series (HKTS)

The inaugural Hong Kong Tennis Series kicked off with the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis 125, an event that showcases world-class women’s tennis, while being part of a professional circuit aimed at developing future WTA stars.

These WTA 125 events not only provides up-and-coming players with more competitive opportunities and the chance to earn valuable ranking points, they also give emerging markets a chance to showcase women’s professional tennis at the highest level.

Prior to becoming Grand Slam champions, world No. 1s, and Olympic medalists, players the likes of Naomi Osaka, Ashleigh Barty, Aryna Sabalenka, Emma Raducanu, and China’s very own Zheng Qinwen and Wang Xinyu, have all benefited from the elite-level match-play opportunities provided by the WTA 125s to sharpen and develop their games before they became global super stars.

The Hong Kong Tennis Series continues with the upcoming WTA 250 Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open from October 26 to November 3, followed by the ATP 250 Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open from December 30 to January 5.

WTA 125 Records

Inaugural winner
2012 — Kristina Mladenovic — Taipei

Youngest winner
2016 — CiCi Bellis — Honolulu

Highest-ranked winner
2015 — No. 25 Jelena Jankovic — Nanchang

Lowest-ranked winner
2023 — No. 543 Ajla Tomljanovic — Florianopolis