New Zealand's Paige Hourigan has claimed the 13th doubles title of her career, winning the US$50,000 World Tennis Tour (WTT) tournament in Wuning, China with India's Rutuja Bhosale.
In a dramatic final on Saturday, Hourigan and Bhosale defeated the Chinese Taipei duo of Cho I-Hsuan and Cho Yi Tsen 5-7 7-6 (5) 12-10.
LATEST HEADLINES: * NZ swimming team selected for Paris Games * NZ Warriors claim U-17 Harold Matthews Cup * Confidence-boosting win for Mainland Tactix * Multiple top-10 for NZ golfers around globe * Black Caps name ICC T20 World Cup squad
It was Hourigan’s second title of the year, having triumphed in Burnie, Australia in February with fellow Kiwi Erin Routliffe and it comes on the back of a strong run of results at the Billie Jean King Cup in China, where the 27-year-old won three of four doubles matches.
Under the International Tennis Federation’s entry criteria for the Paris Olympics, Hourigan would need to be in the top-300 to be an option to partner up with Routliffe in Paris in July.
Her points haul in Wuning was expected to move her up from 462 to around 387 in the world rankings.
Meanwhile, Lulu Sun has lost 7-5 6-2 to Kayla Day in the semifinals of the US$75,000 WTT tournament in Charlottesville, USA.
Sun was hoping for the second win of her career against a top 100 player and was able to match the world No 86 until she was broken when serving at 5-6 in the opening set.
In the second set, Sun was not able to dominate with her first serve, while this was Day’s ninth win from her last 11 matches on clay.
Despite the loss, it was a good week in Virginia for Sun, who also made it to the semifinals of the doubles.
Sun’s singles ranking is expected to jump from 164 to around 153 when the new list comes out next week. Sun reached a career-high ranking of 151 in February of this year.