Putintseva beats Tomljanovic in Birmingham tennis final
The 29-year-old's previous two WTA tour titles had come on clay courts, in Nurnberg in 2019 and Budapest in 2021. But on Sunday she prevailed in nearly 90 minutes on court after coming from 5-3 down -- and saving two set points -- in the second set of the final of this warm-up event for Wimbledon. Victory saw Putintseva become just the second unseeded Birmingham champion in the last 10 years, following Beatriz Haddad Maia's title run of 2022. "I don't know what I'm feeling because I wasn't expecting this at all," Putintseva said afterwards.