Mérida, Yuc.- The last opportunity to see Renata Zarazúa as singles champion in Mexico, her country, in the current tennis season.
The Mexican was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Merida Open by the Turkish Zeynep Sonmez in a match that lasted two hours and 40 minutes and was defined in three sets (3-6, 6-3, 6-4). The capital of Yucatán receives a WTA 250 category event this week.
Zarazúa started with a stable rhythm but without becoming overwhelming. In around 50 minutes he won the first set and excited the more than 1,000 fans present in the main stadium of the Yucatan Country Clubvenue of the event.
The stands were excited because, less than 24 hours before, Renata had passed the round of 16 against the Polish Maja Chwalinska with a cardiac comeback (which lasted two hours and 31 minutes). That kept her in the fight for the title.
Furthermore, their hierarchy as the number one seed in Mérida was at stake. This week she appeared at the best ranking of her WTA career, 62, while Turkey’s Sonmez is 127. That difference disappeared on the scoreboard.
Merida represents the last WTA tournament to be held in Mexico in 2024. Throughout the season there were a total of seven tournaments in the country: the 500 category in Monterrey and Guadalajara, the 250 in the capital of Yucatán and four Challengers 125 between Puerto Vallarta, Zapopan, San Luis Potosí and Tampico (they were played between February and November).
However, Renata Zarazúa did not participate in all of them. He was absent from the San Luis Potosí and Tampico Challengers. In the rest of the tournaments their results were: round of 16 in Monterrey, Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, first round in Zapopan and quarterfinals in Mérida.
It should be noted that these results correspond to the singles branch. In doubles, Zarazúa was able to lift a title in Mexico in 2024, which was in the Puerto Vallarta Challenger in February, playing alongside Belarusian Iryna Shymanovich.
But the fans’ great hope was to see her as a singles champion, thanks to the unprecedented season she has experienced on the WTA Tour. Between January and August she advanced to the main draws of the four Grand Slams, something that no Mexican had achieved in more than two decades.
Long wave of applause
Despite the defeat in the quarterfinals in Mérida, the fans said goodbye to her with a long wave of applauseto which she responded with smiles and greetings. A night before, Renata Zarazúa pointed to the fans as the driving forces behind her victory against the Polish Chwalinska.
The tennis player originally from Mexico City and developing in Guadalajara had twice advanced to the quarterfinals of a WTA 250 tournament, which was in Zapopan 2019 (she lost to the Czech Marie Bouzkova) and in Acapulco 2020; In fact, in the latter venue she advanced to the semifinals over the Slovenian Tamara Zidansek, although she later lost to the Canadian Leylah Fernández.
Renata still has a chance to be champion in Mérida 2024 but in the doubles branchsince her round of 16 match will resume this Friday, November 1, alongside the Russian Anastasia Tikhonova, facing the Colombian María Pérez along with the American Christina Rosca.
After being eliminated in the singles quarterfinals, Renata Zarazúa was left with a economic prize of 6,608 dollarswhich will be added to the 496,193 he has won this season. Their balance of wins and losses in singles stands at 43-30, respectively, after the Mérida tournament.
On the other hand, according to WTA ranking forecasts on the Live Tennis website, Zarazúa would rise to 59th place starting next week, marking a new record for her career in the world rankings. This thanks to her two wins in Mérida (against Akasha Urhobo in the first round and against Maja Chwalinska in the round of 16).
