By Alberto Amalfi | Sunday, October 16, 2022
Contesting her first final, qualifier Blinkova beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to capture her maiden WTA championship at the Transylvania Open.
Photo credit: Getty
It was a first and Anna Blinkova made it last.
Contesting her first final, qualifier Blinkova beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to capture her maiden WTA championship at the Transylvania Open.
More: Elina Svitolina is a Mom!
On championship point, Blinkova blasted a backhand drive volley crosscourt and bent over in joy soaking in her breakthrough.
It's a milestone moment for Blinkova, who rockets 58 spots up the rankings to No. 80 in the Live Rankings.
The Moscow-born baseliner is the fifth qualifier to collect a WTA title in 2022, joining Tatjana Maria (Bogota), Anastasia Potapova (Istanbul), Bernarda Pera (Budapest) and Caroline Garcia (Cincinnati) in the transformation from qualifier to champion.
It all added up to a maiden title for Blinkova and a celebration with one of Transylvania's finest and devoted (night) tennis fan, Dracula.
The big-hitting Blinkova won 28 of 35 first serve points and pumped five aces against seven double faults.
![Tennis Express](https://tennisnow.com/images/2022/October/Prime-Week-09302022-610-x-130.aspx)
Consistently playing off her front foot at crucial stages, Blinkova won four consecutive games, including rolling through eight of the final nine points, to wrap up a one hour, 41-minute triumph.
The former world No. 54 earned her first title the hard way. Blinkova scored four three-set main-draw wins en route to the title.
Blinkova went the distance in a second-round triumph over 80th-ranked Xinyu Wang, scored a two-hour, 37-minute quarterfinal conquest of Anhelina Kalinina in the quarterfinals, beat back Anastasia Potapova 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in yesterday's semifinals and came up with a convincing closing kick to hold off Paolini today.