(Reuters) – Lauren Davis returned to the winner’s circle for the first time in six years after the American qualifier beat Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto 7-6(0) 6-2 in the final of the Hobart International on Saturday.
Davis, who won her maiden title in Auckland in 2017, came through two qualifiers before storming into the final and won the trophy without dropping a set.
Cocciaretto, 21, had downed former Hobart International and Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in three sets to reach the final.
With nothing to separate the two in the opening set, Davis breezed through the tiebreak without dropping a point before breaking early in the second to beat her younger opponent.
The 29-year-old American, who faces Danka Kovinic in the Australian Open first round, became the fourth qualifier to win the title in Hobart after Germany’s Mona Barthel, Spaniard Garbine Muguruza and Belgian Elise Mertens.
In the Adelaide tune-up tournament, Belinda Bencic and Daria Kasatkina are in the final after both players received walkovers in the semis.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
