Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova became the first WTA champion of the new decade as she defeated Kazakh rising star Elena Rybakina 6-2 6-4 in 73 minutes to win the Shenzhen Open and claim her maiden title.
The fifth seed, who won a 125K event at Limoges last month, started the match extremely strongly, stringing up to 11 points in a row as she romped to a 4-0 lead with two early breaks in a dominant first set display.
After losing her serve in the first game of the second set, world No.