Valentina Ivanov clinches another clay title in Europe

Valentina Ivanov and her Danish partner Rebecca Munk Mortensen have claimed a doubles title together in Serbia.

The Kiwi and Munk Mortensen convincingly won the final in Kursumlijska Banja, defeating Lisa Claeys from Belgium and Russia’s Milana Zhabraiova 6-1 6-2.

Ivanov needed to come through in a third set super tiebreak to defeat the Serbian duo Andjela Lazarevic and Anja Stankovic in the semifinals, but their win in the final was far more straightforward.

The victory at this W15 ITF tournament is Ivanov’s second title of the year, also winning on clay with Johanne Christine Svendsen in Gdansk, last month. This is the sixth doubles title in the career of the 24-year-old Ivanov.

Ivanov reached the quarterfinals in the singles draw in Kursumlijska Banja. She is scheduled to play in the Serbian spa town again next week.

Meanwhile, Michael Venus and his new partner Yuki Bhambri have been drawn against Andre Goransson from Sweden and the Netherlands’ Sem Verbeek in the first round of the ATP 500 tournament in Washington.

Venus and Bhambri are the fourth seeds in Washington.