By Adrianna Outlaw | Sunday, September 19, 2021
Eighteen year-old Clara Tauson dethroned defending champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to capture her second title of the season at the Luxembourg Open.
Photo credit: BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open Facebook
Fans were waving Danish flags in support and Clara Tauson responded flying through the finish line with conviction.
The 18-year-old Tauson won eight of the last 10 points dethroning defending champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to capture her second title of the season at the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open today.
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Adhesive taping wrapping her left thigh, Tauson pumped eight aces against one double fault and denied three of five break points in a two hour, three-minute triumph. Throughout the final, Tauson protected her second serve with more care. The Danish teenager won 63 percent of her second-serve points and won 71 percent of the points played on Ostapenko's second serve.
Tauson, who won her maiden WTA title in Lyon last March, is the fifth woman to win multiple WTA titles in 2021. The Danish teenager rises to a new career-high rank of No. 52 in the live rankings.
“I see a lot of Danish flags; it’s always so nice to see Danish people,” Tauson said during the trophy presentation. “It’s so nice to be back with the crowd; you really helped me today.
“I was a little bit tired today, but I really felt your energy and it was nice.”
The victory caps a week that saw Tauson top fourth-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova in a third-set tiebreaker, battle past fifth-seeded Marketa Vondrousova in the semifinals then rally past third-seeded Ostapenko today.
Eight days after 18-year-old Briton Emma Raducanu defeated 19-year-old lefty Leylah Fernandez in the US Open final to become the first qualifier—male or female—to win a Grand Slam title, Tauson continues the trending teen champions on tour.
Ostapenko, who won Luxembourg in 2019 when the tournament was last contested, broke at love for a 2-1 lead in the decider and seemed to have the momentum, but Tauson broke right back to level in the fourth game.
Deadlocked at 2-all, the pair traded big baseline drives in the longest game of the match. On her fourth game point, Tauson drew an errant Ostapenko backhand for a crucial hold and 3-2 lead.
Charging through a two-ace game, Tauson stamped her third love hold for a 4-3 lead.
Serving to extend the set in the 10th game, the 2017 Roland Garros champion lost the plot.
“Of course I’m really disappointed with the way the match was, but congrats to Clara for her win," Ostapenko said. "Obviously, I was not playing well today. All the week I was playing so good and today I couldn’t really bring my level so it’s a shame.
“I really enjoyed the week here. It’s my second time here hopefully I can be back.”
A jittery Ostapenko opened with a double fault and sprayed successive errors to face triple championship point. On her second championship point, Tauson closed when Ostapenko’s backhand missed the mark.