March 20, 2022 - The amazing 16-year-old Petra Marčinko has topped Elisabetta Cocciaretto to clinch a new title in Antalya - and her second ITF Turkey title in a week! 

For the second week in a row, the world's best junior won the professional ITF tournament in Turkey with a prize fund of $25,000. In the final match, after a great fight in three sets, Marčinko defeated 21-year-old Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto (242nd on the WTA list) - 1:6, 6:4. 6:4.

Unlike their clash last week, the Italian was much closer to success this time. Marčinko opened the match poorly and lost the first set 6:1, but then gathered the strength to come back to win 4:6, 4:6 and turn the match in her favor for yet another title in her young career. This is Petra’s second ITF title in two weeks and her 24th win in a row. Last week, the 16-year-old reached her first title in professional singles tournaments after defeating France's Carole Monnet (279th on the WTA list) convincingly in two sets - 6:4, 6:1.

To put things into perspective, Petra Marčinko is the most successful female tennis player in the world this season with 24 wins, losing for the last time on October 15 last year. Her greatness is measured in that Rafael Nadal leads in the men's competition, losing last on December 18, 2021, against Shapovalov with 19 consecutive wins. 

In January, Marčinko also became the world's best junior tennis player and won the Australian Open Juniors title at the beginning of the year.

The Zagreb tennis player who turns 17 in December and only began playing at the senior level this year has shown her incredible talent with these two titles in Antalya. She will also look forward to a huge leap in the world rankings. Namely, before these two tournaments, Marčinko was 928th, and now she should place around 420th on the WTA list. 

Source: Gol.hr and HTS

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March 19, 2022 - The unstoppable winning streak of Petra Marčinko continues. The world's best junior will play in her second consecutive final, this time at the ITF Turkey 10A tournament in Antalya!

Petra Marčinko continued her winning streak and was ruthless against 27-year-old Chinese tennis player Yafan Wang (WTA - 316th), winning 6-0, 6-0 in 62 minutes in the ITF semifinal in Antalya, Turkey on Saturday. 

The best junior in the world reached her ninth consecutive victory in the senior competition in difficult, windy conditions, and her 23rd win in total, if we add the last three junior tournaments in which she competed. She will fight for her second consecutive title in Antalya on Sunday, where she won her first Senior ITF tournament last week.

The 16-year-old from Zagreb adapted to the conditions and left Yafan Wang without a game. Wang is a well-known name in the tennis world - she has beaten top 10 players, won the WTA tournament in Acapulco in 2019 and is certainly a player who deserves respect. Two and a half years ago, she was 47th in the WTA rankings for singles. 

Marčinko took advantage of all six break opportunities while Wang able was unable to take any of her five chances. 

On Sunday, Marčinko will fight for the trophy against 21-year-old Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto (WTA - 242), who was better than 17-year-old Russian Diana Schneider (WTA - 857) in the semifinals 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, and who is in second place in the junior rankings.

Marčinko also played against Cocciaretto in Antalya last week, defeating her 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinal match. She will fight for her second consecutive title in Antalya on Sunday where she won her first senior ITF tournament last week.

With this week's placement in the final, Marčinko made a new leap in the world ranking and secured the 470th spot on the WTA list.

Source: HRT

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