Mayar Sherif: Winning historic Parma Open title "means a lot to Egypt"
- Published
Mayar Sherif had to play both the Parma Open semi-final and final on the same day after rain washed out Friday's schedule.
Mayar Sherif said winning the Parma Open "means a lot" to her country after she became the first woman from Egypt to win a WTA title.
Sherif beat the top seed and world number seven Maria Sakkari of Greece 7-5, 6-3 in the final on Saturday.
As well as lifting the trophy, 26-year-old Sherif also achieved her first ever win over a top 10 player.
"It means a lot for the people back home, my family, all the hard work, all the mental struggles in the last weeks," Sherif said after her win. , external
"I'm just thrilled and happy. This was never expected."
On a demanding day, Sherif had to play her semi-final and final within hours of each other after Friday's schedule had been washed out by rain.
It took her almost three hours to defeat sixth-seeded Ana Bogdan of Romania 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the last four.
"I'm exhausted," Sherif said after coming back from being an early break down in both sets of the claycourt final.
"Today was a very tough day for me, many hours on court. I'm very happy that I pulled it off. I had to dig very deep."
"The first match was emotionally and mentally tough. There were so many key moments in the match, a lot of pressure. But after I won that match it gave me a lot of confidence so I used that for the match right after."
Sherif, who is ranked 74 in the world, has been battling back to fitness after a foot injury she suffered at the French Open earlier this year.