Portuguese Francisca Jorge and Matilda Jorge made history this Saturday on the center court of the Jamor Tennis Complex, where they became Ladies Oeiras Open doubles champions after defeating Harriet Dart and Kristina Mladenovic.
Playing in the first final of a WTA tournament, the sisters from Guimarães did not disappoint the hundreds of spectators who filled the stands of Jamor Centralito, and in just two “sets” they defeated their opponents with partial scores of 6-0 and 6-4. Britons Dart and Mladenovic, former world number one in doubles and winner of 28 WTA titles, six of which were won at Grand Slam tournaments.
After a very strong first set by the players from the Portuguese Tennis Federation High Performance Center, forcing three unanswered breaks, the opponents reacted and created even more difficulties, which were still not enough to cool the dominant momentum of the home players going into the game. The 10th game ended the match on the first match point they had.
The crowd applauded, the cheers intensified, and as celebrations in the stands celebrated the historic feat, the sisters, the first Portuguese women to win a WTA doubles title, embraced to celebrate their 15th title together.
“Kika [Francisca] She hit a parallel right in the match and I felt her shaking. She felt much more than I did, but she was the one who covered it up. It’s always nice to hug her, but this [abraço] Maybe it was stronger,” admitted 20-year-old Matilda, and her older sister admitted that she loved hugging her younger sister – “what [abraço] It was really special.”
Both were eliminated in the singles quarterfinals, with Minho’s team highlighting the importance of the doubles triumph in a very positive week that marked both men’s WTA debuts.
“We are very happy to write a little about our history and, in a sense, about Portuguese women’s tennis. We played very well all week, showed a very good, very high level and I think we deserved to win this Saturday.” , defended Francisca Jorge on the eve of celebrating his 24th birthday.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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