Elise Mertens Captures WTA Title at 2025 Libéma Open
The victory came after the Belgian saved 11 match points in the semi-finals.
Elise Mertens of Belgium, 29, defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania, 27, to win the Women’s Singles title at the 2025 Libéma Open in Rosmalen, Netherlands (a WTA 250 event). The score in the final was 6-3 and 7-6 (7-4 tiebreaker) in favor of Mertens.
This was the fourth match Mertens and Ruse have played against each other on the WTA Tour - with Mertens winning all of their prior meetings. Today’s victory was the second title Mertens has won on the 2025 WTA Tour and the tenth title of her career in single’s competition. Notably, this was the first title she has claimed from a grass court event and her eighth from a 250-level tournament. She has now won titles on all three court surfaces. And finally, she becomes the third player representing Belgium to win the title in Rosmalen since the event joined the tour in 1996 - joining Justine Henin in 2001 & 2010 and Kim Clijsters in 2003.
Heading into this tournament, Mertens was ranked as the Number 25 tennis player on the 2025 WTA Tour, while Ruse carried the Number 80 designation. By winning in Rosmalen, Mertens has received 250 points in the overall rankings. Meanwhile, Ruse has picked up 163 points.
Liudmila Samsonova of Russia (No. 18) was the tournament’s reigning champion. This year as the top seed, she lost in the first round against qualifier Carson Branstine of Canada (No. 231). Furthermore, Mertens was the event’s third seed while Ruse entered the main draw after first prevailing during the qualifying competition.
Mertens arrived in the final after winning against Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria (No. 76), Maria Sakkari of Greece (No. 85), lucky loser Yuan Yue of China (No. 84), and second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia (No. 19). This was the 16th WTA final she has contested and her 14th at a 250-level event. Notably, she saved 11 match points during her semi-finals battle against Alexandrova.
In the other half of the main draw, Ruse defeated protected ranking Mihaela Buzărnescu of Romania (in her second event back on the tour), Katarzyna Kawa of Poland (No. 141), qualifier Isis Louise van den Broek of Netherlands (No. 496), Branstine, wildcard Bianca Andreescu of Canada (No. 118), and Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy (No. 123). This was the fourth WTA final she has competed in - all at 250-level events.
The revised rankings for the 2025 WTA Tour will be officially released on Monday, June 16. The tour will then play two tournaments from June 15-22: the German Open in Berlin, Germany (a WTA 500 event) and the Nottingham Open in Nottingham, United Kingdom (a WTA 250 event). Both competitions will be played on grass courts.
Jessica Pegula of the United States (No. 3) is the reigning champion at the German Open. She is looking to defend the title as the third seed at this year’s event. The Top 4 seeds receive byes into the second round of competition. Meanwhile, Katie Boulter of the United Kingdom (No. 34) is the two-time reigning champion at the Nottingham Open. She is also attempting a title defense as the eighth seed at this year’s event. In the first round, she will face off against Lulu Sun of Australia (No. 43).
And finally, Mertens and Ruse will not be playing anywhere this week. Mertens was originally scheduled to compete as the third seed in Nottingham. However, she withdrew from the main draw following her victory in Rosmalen.