Chinese Li Yixuan Captures Maiden Title in Hua Hin.
Chinese Li Yixuan recovered from a slow start to upset Filipina Katharina Lehnert 2-6 6-4 6-3 to win her first ITF title in the final of the US$10,000 Cal-Comp & XYZ Printing ITF Women’s Circuit 2 at True Arena yesterday.
Arena yesterday.
Li, 19, again showed she was capable of summoning her best when falling behind. She was down a set against Thai hope Bunyawi Thamchaiwat before putting up a gutsy fight to win their quarter-final match on Thursday.
The title in Hua His marked Li’s first ever crown on the ITF circuit. Her win meant three Chinese players have won three out of the four ITF circuits at the resort town. Gao Xinyu won the opening US$25,000 event three weeks ago while Guo Hanyu won the US$10,000 event last week.
Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands was the only non-Chinese winner as she clawed back from a brink of defeat to beat Thai hope NIcha Lertpitaksinchai in the second US$25,000 event two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the last circuit starts on Monday with Bunyawi, Nudnida Luagnam, and Plobrung Plipuech as the country’s top contenders.
