Rebecca Šramková Achieves First WTA Title at Second Edition of Thailand Open in 2024
The Slovak player faced off against Laura Siegemund of Germany in the final.
After reaching back-to-back finals this month, Rebecca Šramková of Slovakia, 27, has defeated Laura Siegemund of Germany, 36, to win the Women’s Singles title at the 2024 Thailand Open 2 in Hua Hin, Thailand (a WTA 250 event). The score in the final was 6-4 and 6-4 in favor of Šramková.
This was the first match Siegemund and Šramková have ever played against each other on the WTA Tour. Today’s victory was the first title Šramková has won on the 2024 WTA Tour and the first title of her career in single’s competition. That means her maiden title came from a hard court event at the 250-level. Moreover, she becomes the tenth player to win her first WTA title during the 2024 season so far - and the first Slovak player to achieve the feat. And finally, she becomes the first player representing Slovakia to win the title in Hua Hin since the event joined the tour in 2019.
Heading into this tournament, Siegemund was ranked as the Number 99 tennis player on the 2024 WTA Tour, while Šramková carried the Number 102 designation. By winning in Hua Hin, Šramková has received 250 points in the overall rankings. Meanwhile, Siegemund has picked up 163 points. As a result, Šramková will achieve a new career best ranking at Number 61.
Diana Shnaider of Russia (No. 16) was the tournament’s reigning champion when the event was last held in January 2024. This week, she opted to compete at the Seoul Open instead - where she lost against Daria Kasatkina of Russia (No. 13) in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Siegemund and Šramková entered the main draw as unseeded players.
Šramková arrived in the final after winning against qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand (No. 195), fourth seed Magda Linette of Poland (No. 43), Jana Fett of Croatia (No. 129), and Tamara Zidanšek of Slovenia (No. 261).
In the other half of the main draw, Siegemund defeated Alycia Parks of the United States (No. 116), fifth seed Wang Xiyu of China (No. 62), Rebeka Masarova of Spain (No. 119), and qualifier Arianne Hartono of the Netherlands (No. 180). The match between Siegemund and Wang lasted 4 hours and 9 minutes - making it the fourth-longest ever on the WTA Tour during the Open Era.
The revised rankings for the 2024 WTA Tour will be officially released on Monday, September 23. The tour will then play one tournament from September 25-October 6: the China Open in Beijing, China (a WTA 1000 event). The competition will be played on hard courts.
Iga Świątek of Poland (No. 1) is the reigning champion at the China Open. This year though, she has withdrawn from the main draw for personal reasons. Instead, the top two seeds will be Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus (No. 2) and Jessica Pegula of the United States (No. 3). Furthermore, Siegemund and Šramková will also be competing in Beijing - with Siegemund receiving an unseeded slot in the main draw while Šramková battles in the qualifying competition.