Claire Liu claims first WTA title with dominant win in Hong Kong Open

The unseeded American, ranked No. 102 entering the week, needed 1 hour and 33 minutes at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium to wrap up a dominant performance. She did not drop a set across her five matches in Hong Kong.

The final started competitively with the players trading strong baseline rallies and reaching 3-3 in the opening set.

Eala, the world No. 17 and recent WTA 500 champion in Washington, received medical treatment on her right knee mid-set, and Liu then pulled away, capitalising on errors to take the set 6-3 in 38 minutes.

The second set was more one-sided, after a marathon opening game that featured 11 deuces before Liu eventually broke serve.

She reeled off the remaining games, breaking repeatedly as Eala's movement slowed, to complete a 6-0 shutout. Liu finished strongly with aces and dictated play behind a high first-serve percentage.

Liu's week included straight-sets wins over Katie Boulter, Zeynep Sönmez, and qualifier Alexandra Shubladze in the semifinals (7-5, 6-4), while Eala had a tougher path, including a rain-affected three-set semi-final victory over fourth seed Maria Sakkari (7-5, 3-6, 6-4).

This was Liu's second WTA final after she finished runner-up in Rabat in 2022.

Eala was seeking a second WTA title after her breakthrough Washington win earlier in the season and the loss ended a strong year that had already seen her rise significantly in the rankings and she is still projected a new career-high around No. 15.

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