Curmi demolishes German player Daems to win ITF W35 Darmstadt tournament

Malta’s top tennis player Francesca Curmi secured another ITF World Tennis Tour trophy in her cabinet after winning the W35 Darmstadt tournament in Germany on Sunday.

For Curmi, it was the culmination of a very strong run during the week-long tournament, which saw her reach the tournament’s semi-finals without dropping a set before stepping up a gear in the decisive part of the competition to battle her way to the title.

Curmi, who was ranked third in the tournament, stormed into the second round with a 6-1 6-1 demolition of Swiss qualifier Fiona Ganz in the first round.

In the second round, Curmi was again at her best to see off French player Sarah Iliev 6-2 6-3 and set up a quarter-final showdown with eighth-seeded player Vivian Wolff of the United States.

The last eight clash turned out to be a real battle as Wolff took the first set 6-3.

But Curmi kept her composure and managed to turn the match around by winning the next two sets with an identical score of 6-3 and progress to the semi-finals.

 Next up for Curmi was a clash against South Korean player Shohyun Park, the tournament’s top seed.

The Maltese battled her way to winning the first set 7-6, but Park forced the decider when taking the second set 6-2.

But the third set was completely dominated by Curmi, who coasted through 6-1 and reached the final.

Curmi was up against German wild card Josy Daems, who had reached the final after upsetting second seed Kajsa Rinaldo Persson, of Sweden, in the last four.

But for Daems, there was no way she would secure another upset win as Curmi was on her game right from the start and coasted to victory with an impressive 6-2 6-0 scoreline.

For Curmi, this was her first tournament title this year and will boost her hopes to move up the world rankings, where she is currently placed at 369th in the world.