Arantxa Rus (32) received the prize of honour for the first major tournament win of her career from her famous Spanish namesake Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, who triumphed three times on the centre court at the Rothenbaum. The Dutchwoman prevailed 6-0, 7-6 (7-3) in the final of the Hamburg European Open against local hero Noma Noha Akugue (19), who had caused a furore last week with her sensational advance to the final as a wild card player.
"I'm very happy and can hardly believe it," says Rus after the biggest success of her career, which she dedicated to her father who passed away four months ago. In addition to the trophy, she received a prize money of 29,760 euros and 280 world ranking points. As a result, she will be ranked 42nd in the world rankings from Monday, the best position of her career. "I felt very comfortable here, it was a perfect week for me," said the winner.
Local hero Noma Noha Akugue was "mega happy with the whole week despite losing in the final. I hope I can win the tournament one day," said the player from Der Club an der Alster, "that's a big dream." She proved last week that she has the right to dream big. Arantxa Rus also recognised the performance of her defeated opponent and congratulated her on reaching the final: "You're a great fighter."
The Glinder showed this in the second set, when she was better able to keep up with her experienced opponent, who has now won 15 of her last 16 matches on clay. Despite the support of the 10,000 spectators in the sold-out stadium, Noha Akugue was unable to show her best tennis in the first set. "I wasn't particularly nervous and I felt good physically," said the defeated player, "Arantxa just played extremely well, it was difficult for me."
She will now take a few days off and recharge her batteries before travelling to a tournament in Poland. She received 17,500 euros for reaching the final and jumped from 207 to 142 in the world rankings, which is of course a new record. "I've seen that I have what it takes to keep up with the best players," she said, "the hard work has paid off and I hope I can keep playing like this."