Magdalena Fręch Claims First Career Title at 2024 Guadalajara Open
The Polish player faced off against qualifier Olivia Gadecki of Australia in the final.
Magdalena Fręch of Poland, 26, defeated Olivia Gadecki of Australia, 22, to win the Women’s Singles title at the 2024 Guadalajara Open in Guadalajara, Mexico (a WTA 500 event). The score in the final was 7-6 (7-5 tiebreaker) and 6-4 in favor of Fręch.
This was the first match Fręch and Gadecki have ever played against each other on the WTA Tour. Both were competing today to become the ninth player to win her first WTA title during the 2024 season as well as the first from their respective countries. That means Fręch’s maiden title came from a hard court event at the 500-level. Of the first-time winners this year, Fręch is now only the second player to earn the distinction at a WTA 500 tournament - following Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic at the Monterrey Open last month. And finally, she becomes the first player representing Poland to win the title in Guadalajara since the event joined the tour in 2022.
Heading into this tournament, Fręch was ranked as the Number 43 tennis player on the 2024 WTA Tour, while Gadecki carried the Number 152 designation. By winning in Guadalajara, Fręch has received 500 points in the overall rankings. Meanwhile, Gadecki has picked up 325 points.
Maria Sakkari of Greece (No. 10) was the tournament’s reigning champion when the event was a 1000-level competition in 2023. This year though, she withdrew from the main draw before the start of the tournament. Meanwhile, Fręch was the event’s fifth seed while Gadecki entered the main draw after first prevailing in the qualifying round.
Fręch arrived in the final after winning against Emina Bektas of the United States (No. 117), Ashlyn Krueger of the United States (No. 51), wildcard Marina Stakusic of Canada (No. 155), and fourth seed Caroline Garcia of France (No. 30).
In the other half of the main draw, Gadecki defeated Tímea Babos of Hungary (No. 264), Maya Joint of Australia (No. 111), Sloane Stephens of the United States (No. 63), second seed Danielle Collins of the United States (No. 11), Martina Trevisan of Italy (No. 99), and Camila Osorio of Colombia (No. 80).
The revised rankings for the 2024 WTA Tour will be officially released on Monday, September 16. The tour will then play two tournaments from September 16-22: the Korea Open in Seoul, South Korea (a WTA 500 event) and the Thailand Open in Hua Hin, Thailand (a WTA 250 event). Both competitions will be played on hard courts.
Jessica Pegula of the United States (No. 3) is the reigning champion at the Korea Open. She has decided not to compete anywhere this week. However, Fręch has entered the main draw with an unseeded slot - playing against qualifier Priscilla Hon of Australia (No. 195) in the first round. Elsewhere, Diana Shnaider of Russia (No. 17) is the reigning champion at the Thailand Open when the event was last held in January 2024. She has opted to compete in Seoul instead - entering as the fourth seed and thus earning a bye into the second round. Finally, Gadecki will not be playing anywhere this week.