​Elise Mertens (seeded at number one) lost the final of the WTA tournament in Hobart, the athlete from Belgium (ranked 29 in the world) was defeated 1-6, 6-4, 5-7, Emma Navarro (31st in world and the second favorite).

Elise Mertens, WTA Hobart final defeat by Emma Navarro

The first set was one in which Navarro served very well, did not offer any of the opponents to break and, in addition, made the difference in the return in two games (score 6-1).

Navarro made the first break in the second set as well, but could not maintain the same high level, and the set (one of seven breaks!) went to the Belgian with a score of 6-4.

Finally, the decider also had a real break, remembering that the American had changed three of the five.

Navarro eventually won 7-5 (after a second match point) and the victory gave her the first WTA title of her career.

The final, intense, lasted two hours and 50 minutes.

Know:

• The 28-year-old Mertens is a double winner of the Tasmanian competition (in 2017 and 2018, after finals with Monica Niculescu and Mihaela Buzernescu).

• For Belgian Elise Mertens, it was the 13th final in her career (8 titles), while Navarro played in a trophy match for the first time (for the 22-year-old, this is the first WTA title in her career).

The result of the match between Elise Mertens and Emma Navarro:

The Hobart International took place from January 8 to 13 on hard, was part of the WTA 250 category, had a total prize pool of $267,082, and the title champion was Lauren Davis (2023).