Over the last week, many of the world's best players converged in Tunisia for the WTT Contender Tunis. While the doubles titles have been determined over the last two days, today would see matters concluded in the individual battles. (Spoiler alert: It did not go well for the pre-tournament favorites.) In the women's singles, the top two seeds were world #16 Sofia Polcanova of Austria and #19 Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico. Neither, however, would make it to the title tilt. Polcanova was upset in the semifinals by the Czech Republic's world # 50 Hana Matelova (pictured). Diaz, for her part, fell to world #32 Xiaoxin Yang of Monaco in the same round. The Matelova-Yang final proved to be a battle of not only skill but endurance. Yang, known for her comebacks, fought back from 0-2 and 2-3 down to force a decider. Ultimately, it was Matelova who stood victorious, winning the first WTT title for the Czech Republic after a marathon match, (11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 6-11, 11-7, 2-11, 11-4). "I will say my journey in Tunis has been amazing and incredible," marveled Matelova. "I was speechless when I got to the final, and I am even more after winning the title. This is my first WTT title, and it means a lot to me. I did not have a good season after COVID-19 and I could not find myself and now I am back, and it is amazing." Meanwhile, over in the men's singles, neither of the top two seeds justified their billing either. Top seed Patrick Franziska of Germany, world #15, was upset by world #273 Philip Zeljko of Croatia in the quarterfinals. Franziska was then avenged by his countryman Dang Qiu (world #52) of Germany in the semis. In the other semifinal, second-seeded Quadri Aruna of Nigeria (world #16) succumbed to world #51 Anton Källberg of Sweden. Coincidentally, Dang Qiu and Anton Källberg are teammates in Borussia Düsseldorf, the top team in the German Bundesliga. While each is accustomed to rooting for the other, today success was a zero-sum commodity. With 400 world ranking points awarded for first place, the winner would be assured a top-50 world ranking. On this afternoon, it was Källberg who claimed the crown with four straight, albeit tightly contested, wins, (13-11, 11-9, 11-7, 12-10). "It was not easy, but if you are looking at the 4-0 scoreline, it was easy," clarified Källberg. "Every set was close with two points deciding, and I was down struggling. Of course, I am very happy winning all the four sets, but it was not an easy one." Just in case you missed it, it was not easy. Of course, winning an international title is never easy. Today in Tunisia, however, it proved insurmountable for the top seeds.

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