Croatian Marchenko wins the Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge title
Dubai, 8 December / WAM / Croatian Petra Marchenko was crowned champion of the 28th edition of the Al Habtoor International Women’s Tennis Challenge, after defeating veteran Russian Vera Zvonareva in two unanswered sets, 6-3, 6-3, in the final match that was held yesterday on the courts of the Al Habtoor Grand Resort in Dubai, and lasted about an hour and 17 minutes.
The coronation of Marchenko (20 years old) was an extension of her brilliance in the country, after she had won the Fujairah Championship title (W75) last week, scoring a historic double in Dubai and Fujairah, which is the first time she has repeated this achievement since winning two consecutive championships in the Emirates during her career in the junior women’s category in 2019.
After the final match, Khalaf Ahmed Al Habtoor, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, crowned the new champion in the presence of Ahmed Abdul Malik, Vice President of the Emirates Tennis Federation, Nasser Al Marzouqi, Secretary-General, and Tournament Director Noura Badawi.
After the final, Marchenko expressed her happiness at ending the 2025 season in the best possible way, stressing that her victory in Dubai comes after a busy season during which she won her first title in the WTA125 category in Rome, in addition to the Landsville and Tyler titles in the United States, then the Fujairah W75 Championship title before coming to Dubai.
The 28th edition, classified as W100 in the International Tennis Federation series, witnessed the prominent participation of promising female players.
Zvonareva (41 years old), the runner-up of the tournament, was aspiring to achieve the singles and doubles doubles, but she settled for second place in the singles, and also lost the doubles final, along with her partner Rada Zolotareva, to the Asian doubles team consisting of the Chinese Xinyu Gao and the Thai Mananchaya Sawangkaew, with a score of 4-6, 7-5, 10-7, in a match that lasted an hour and 41 minutes.
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