China celebrates Koek and Kurz: complete dominance in Pingyuan

Winning a tournament is a major achievement for any player, but doing so without dropping a single set and conceding only six games throughout the entire competition is something exceptional. Marcella Koek and Victoria Kurz achieved exactly that by claiming the title at the FIP Silver in Pingyuan, China. After defeating Alba Perez and Venise Chan in the semi-finals (6-0 6-3), the champions overcame Camila Ramme and Kotomi Ozawa in the final (6-2 6-1). Earlier this year, Koek had already won the FIP Bronze in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, while Kurz claimed titles at the FIP Bronze Cyprus II and the FIP Bronze Prishtina. Their success in China is even more significant as it came against Ramme, who has enjoyed an outstanding season, winning five CUPRA FIP Tour events: four FIP Bronze titles and the prestigious FIP Silver Palermo.

In the men’s draw, top seeds Roberto Belmont and Guillem Figuerola claimed the title by defeating Dutch pair Julian Prins and Youp De Kroon in a closely contested final that was decided in the third set (6-2 2-6 7-5). The champions had previously overcome Christian Medina Murphy and Alberto Garcia in the semi-finals, and Joel Olivera Palos-Bohou Zhang in the quarter-finals. It was Belmont and Figuerola’s first CUPRA FIP Tour title of the season, having previously reached the finals of the FIP Silver Melbourne, FIP Bronze Melbourne and the FIP Bronze Houten in the Netherlands.