In the final WTA 125 tournament of the 2023 season, Spain’s Cristina Bucsa swept the singles and doubles titles at the Open BLS de Limoges in Limoges, France on Sunday.
Bucsa started the day with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over French hopeful Elsa Jacquemot in the singles final. No. 5 Bucsa, ranked No. 82 in the world singles, took 1 hour 48 minutes to overcome the 235th-ranked Jacquemot to win her first career WTA 125 singles title.
Less than an hour later, Bucsa returned to center court for the doubles final, where she and Yana Sizikova upset No. 2 Oksana Kalashnikova and Maia Lumsden 6-4, 6-1 to claim the title.
The 25-year-old Bucsa hadn’t dropped a set on her way to the Limoges singles final but had a tough quarter-final against 20-year-old wildcard Lois Boisson on Friday.
In that match, France’s Boisson took a 5-0 lead in the first set before Bucsa fended off three set points to take it to a tiebreak. Bucsa eventually won that match 7-6(3), 6-2.
Another 20-year-old Frenchwoman was Bucsa’s opponent in Sunday’s final and this time, Jacquemot was able to build a 4-0 advantage and hold on to a one-set lead. Jacquemot won 88 percent of her first serve points in the first set, where she also never faced a break point.
But it was Bucsa who were in command in the second set, where she fired a forehand winner down the line to take a 3-0 lead. From there, Bucsa cruised through the remainder of the second set, never facing a break point.
In the third set, Jacquemot hit back-to-back double faults to drop serve in the first game. Extending the points at a blistering pace, Bucsa built on that momentum, breaking the lovesick Jacquemot for 5-2.
Serving for the title, Bucsa came back from 0-30 down and drilled a backhand to force Jacquemot into the net for the Spaniard’s first championship point. Bucsa will climb to a new top singles ranking of No. 61 on Monday.
In the doubles final, Bucsa and Sizikova broke their opponents seven times en route to the 68-minute victory. The champions twice lost an early break at 2-0 and 3-1 in the opening set, but scored 11 of the next 13 games to take the win.
Bucsa has now won four WTA 125 doubles titles in her career — all in the last 13 months and with four different partners.
It is the second WTA 125 doubles title of Sizikova’s career, the previous one coming in Colina, Chile last November with Aldila Sutjiadi.