Last week on the WTA 125 circuit was huge for rising teenagers, with 18-year-old Tereza Valentova and 19-year-old Petra Marcinko claiming the singles titles. Here’s a roundup of the two events:
Eupago Porto Open – Porto, Portugal (hard court)
No. 3 seed Valentova of the Czech Republic prevailed on the hard courts of Porto, winning the title with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over 21-year-old Lanlana Tararudee of Thailand on Sunday.
Valentova needed 1 hour and 46 minutes to take down Tararudee, saving nine of 10 break points in the process. The championship victory finished off a perfect week for the Czech — Valentova won all of her matches in straight sets.
It has been a breakthrough summer for Valentova, who now has two WTA 125 titles to her name. Last month, she won the clay-court WTA 125 title in Grado, Italy.
Valentova also made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at 2025 Roland Garros, where she reached the second round before falling to eventual champion Coco Gauff.
The 2024 Junior Roland Garros singles champion, Valentova is on the brink of already making her Top 100 debut in the PIF WTA Rankings. She rises to a new career-high of No. 106 on Monday, up from No. 129.
Saturday’s Porto doubles final was won by American sisters Carmen and Ivana Corley. They beat Liang En-shuo and Peangtarn Plipuech 6-3, 6-1 for the title.
The Corley sisters have won two WTA 125 titles in two weeks — on two different surfaces, on two completely different continents. Just last week, they won a grass-court WTA 125 doubles title on home soil in Newport, Rhode Island.
ATV Bancomat Tennis Open – Rome, Italy (clay)
Marcinko of Croatia won her first career WTA 125 singles title on Sunday, toppling No. 3 seed Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to collect the clay-court crown in Rome.
Marcinko had finished runner-up to Irina-Camelia Begu at another clay-court WTA 125 event, last year in Montreux, Switzerland. This time around, the championship went to Marcinko after a 2-hour and 17-minute final.
The final was Marcinko’s toughest match of the week by far. Before the grueling championship match, the Croat breezed to the final without losing more than four games in a set.
Like Valentova, Marcinko is a former Junior Grand Slam singles champion — Marcinko won the 2022 Junior Australian Open.
Now, Marcinko rises from No. 169 to No. 131 in Monday’s updated PIF WTA Rankings. This is one spot higher than her previous career-high ranking of No. 132.
Cho I-hsuan and Cho Yi-tsen of Chinese Taipei won the doubles title in Rome. They squeaked past Ekaterine Gorgodze and Darja Semeņistaja 4-6, 6-4, [10-6] in Saturday’s doubles final.