Siegemund is better known as a doubles specialist, with 14 doubles titles and two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles compared to her two singles triumphs. This weekend the German narrowly missed out on winning her third singles title of her tennis career on the WTA Tour in Thailand.
At the hard-court tournament in Hua Hin (2), the 36-year-old from Metzingen lost in the final to world No. 102 Rebecca Sramkova from Slovakia, 4-6, 4-6. As a result, her tournament victories remain at two for now: 2016 in Bastad, Sweden, and 2017 in Stuttgart.
Despite the defeat, Siegemund climbs 30 spots in the world rankings and will be ranked No. 69 from Monday, making her the top-ranked German player ahead of Jule Niemeier (Dortmund) and Tatjana Maria (Bad Saulgau). Sramkova (27) celebrated her first WTA Tour title.
Siegemund had to work hard in the second round of the $267,082 tournament in Hua Hin, advancing to the quarterfinals after a three-set thriller lasting 4 hours and 9 minutes against China’s Wang Xiyu. It was the longest match on the WTA Tour since 2011. Siegemund managed to push through two more rounds, but in the final, Sramkova proved too strong, winning in 1 hour and 56 minutes.
German tennis players are still waiting for their first singles title this season.