Open des Bretzels: Baltayan Claims Maiden Title On Home Soil

France’s Lauren Baltayan secured her first Tour title, as she defeated Egypt’s Ingy Hammouda in the final of the Open des Bretzels.

Baltayan came into the Challenger 5 level women’s competition unseeded, and she as featuring in just her third tournament on the Tour.

The Frenchwoman, who resides in Cairo, started her week with back-to-back straight games victories. She got the better of wildcard Rose Lucas Marcuzzo in the opening round, before then downing No.7 seed Nour Ramy in under half an hour to reach the quarter finals.

In the last eight, she came up against No.3 seed Asia Harris, and celebrated her 16th birthday with a win. She had lost to the Englishwoman in the final of the European U19 Team Championships a month earlier, but got revenge for that defeat. Baltayan downed Harris in four games to book her semi-final spot.

She followed that with a win in an all-French clash, beating Elise Romba. Romba was the top seed for the tournament, but the 16-year-old downed her compatriot in straight games. That set up a clash with Egypt’s Ingy Hammouda in the final.

Hammouda was also unseeded, and had defeated three of the top five seeds to make the final. It was Baltayan in control throughout though, as she won the opening two games. She lost the third 11-3, but bounced back brilliantly to reverse that scoreline in the fourth, to claim her maiden Tour title.

Results: Open des Bretzels
Final
Lauren Baltayan (FRA) bt Ingy Hammouda (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 11-8, 3-11, 11-3 (32m)

Semi-Finals
Ingy Hammouda (EGY) bt [4] Lea Barbeau (FRA) 3-0: 12-10, 11-8, 11-5 (26m)
Lauren Baltayan (FRA) bt [1] Elise Romba (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 (25m)

Quarter Finals
Ingy Hammouda (EGY) bt [2] Ambre Allinckx (SUI) 3-1: 8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-5 (30m)
[4] Lea Barbeau (FRA) bt Ninon Lemarchand (FRA) 3-1: 11-6, 8-11, 11-0, 11-4 (28m)
Lauren Baltayan (FRA) bt [3] Asia Harris (ENG) 3-1: 11-7, 4-11, 11-8, 11-6 (36m)
[1] Elise Romba (FRA) bt [8] Ella Galova (FRA) 3-0; 11-7, 11-8, 11-4 (23m)

Second Round
[2] Ambre Allinckx (SUI) bt Juliette Permentier (NED) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-4 (17m)
Ingy Hammouda (EGY) bt [5] Celine Walser (SUI) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 (20m)
Ninon Lemarchand (FRA) bt [6] Taba Taghavi (FRA) 3-2: 4-11, 15-13, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9 (50m)
[3] Lea Barbeau (FRA) bt Catarina Nunes (POR) 3-1: 9-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-3
[3] Asia Harris (ENG) bt Ona Blasco (ESP) 3-1: 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 (20m)
Lauren Baltayan (FRA) bt [7] Nour Ramy (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-8 (28m)
[8] Ella Galova (FRA) bt Sofia Aveiro Pita (POR) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-6 (17m)
[1] Elise Romba (FRA) bt Chloe Foster (WAL) 3-1: 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 15-13 (32m)

First Round
Juliette Permentier (NED) bt [WC] Elfi Markus (NED) 3-0: 12-10, 11-7, 11-3 (20m)
Ingy Hammouda (EGY) bt Emma Hodapp (FRA) 3-0: 11-2, 11-5, 11-2 (15m)
Ninon Lemarchand (FRA) bt Olivia Besant (ENG) 3-1: 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4 (25m)
Catarina Nunes (POR) bt Lilou Brevard-Belliot (FRA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 11-6 (18m)
Ona Blasco (ESP) bt [WC] Ines Guyot (FRA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-8, 11-6 (25m)
Lauren Baltayan (FRA) bt [WC] Rose Lucas Marcuzzo (FRA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 (20m)
Sofia Aveiro Pita (POR) bt [WC] Sara Bonmalais (FRA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 (20m)
Chloe Foster (WAL) bt Alina Poessl (SUI) 3-2: 7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 4-11, 11-7 (32m)