American Ann Li finished off a title run for the first time in four years on Sunday by defeating Lulu Sun 7-6(6), 6-2 for the crown at the Guangzhou Open.
Guangzhou: Scores | Draw | Order of play
The 25-year-old was on a three-match skid in trophy tilts dating back to lifting the trophy at the WTA 250 in Tenerife, Spain in 2021 — including runner-up finishes at both Singapore and Cleveland this year as an unseeded player. Seeded No. 2 in Guangzhou, she took advantage of her lofty draw status to reach her sixth career final without the loss of a set, and continued that trend against 2024 WTA Newcomer of the Year Sun, the former World No. 39 who came through qualifying to reach her second career final.
Li was 0-2 against Sun in their all-time head-to-head previously, but wrestled away control of their third match by winning a tight first set that lasted more than an hour.
The American saved all five break points she faced in the first set — she faced at least one in four service games — and eventually flipped the script from 3-0 down in the tiebreak. She previously had four set points — two with Sun serving down 5-4, and another two on the New Zealander’s serve at 6-5 — but couldn’t convert them.
Li is the eighth American to win a singles title on the Hologic WTA Tour this year — and first to win in Guangzhou since Sofia Kenin took the 2019 title.
Piter, Tjen win doubles title
In a doubles final between two unseeded teams, Poland’s Katarzyna Piter and Indonesia’s Janice Tjen came from a set down to defeat Eduice Chong of Hong Kong and Liang En-shuo of Chinese Taipei, 3-6, 6-3, [10-5].
Down 6-3, 3-3, the winning team went on a run of threes: first, capturing three straight games to take the match to a deciding tiebreak, and then winning the first three points of it to start the decider off strong. They never relinquished that lead, and from 4-3 ahead, they ran away with things by winning six of the last eight points.