Mertens Conquers the Libema Open in Den Bosch
Belgian tennis player Elise Mertens, the third seed, won the title of the Libema Open in Den Bosch by defeating Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the final. Mertens, with a score of 6-3 and 7-6 (4), added her second WTA title of the year, after her victory at the Singapore Tennis Open in February. This victory represents Mertens’ tenth individual title in the WTA and the first on grass. It should be noted that she had already won the women’s doubles title at Wimbledon in 2021. In addition, she extended her head-to-head record against Ruse to 4-0.Mertens had to work hard to overcome Ekaterina Alexandrova in Saturday’s semi-final, saving 11 match points. “Yesterday I had 11 match points against me. I managed to win that match. This is tennis, anything can happen. So I am very proud to have taken that opportunity yesterday and today,” added Mertens. In the first set, Mertens started at a disadvantage, going 3-1 down against the Romanian player. However, the Belgian reacted, saving two break points and securing a crucial game in the fifth game, which changed the course of the match. Ruse committed two double faults, allowing the set to even out at 3-3. Mertens took advantage of the situation and won three consecutive games to take the first set. Ruse requested medical assistance between sets and had her thigh bandaged. In the second set, both players exchanged breaks. Ruse had two set points with 5-4 in her favor, but Mertens showed great resilience, forcing a tiebreak that she dominated without problems.“It’s been an incredible week.”
Elise Mertens
Ruse committed seven double faults during the match.“First of all, I would like to congratulate Elise. You beat me every time, what can I say? I am very sad and angry, but I will try next time… I am very proud of myself. I didn’t expect to be in the final here. It’s a very beautiful tournament”
Elena-Gabriela Ruse
