Emma Navarro ended a 15-month title drought with a determined performance to win the WTA 500 clay event in Strasbourg on Saturday. She defeated Victoria Mboko in three sets, 6-0, 5-7, 6-2, securing her first victory over a Top 10 opponent this season and the equal-biggest title of her career.

Navarro entered the week having slipped to No. 39, her lowest ranking since 2023, after falling out of the Top 20 in March and missing Miami, Charleston and Madrid because of health struggles. The Strasbourg crown lifts her from No. 39 to No. 25, returning her to the Top 30 and providing a timely confidence boost ahead of Roland Garros.

“I want to congratulate Victoria on a great week,” she said. “You made it really tough on me today, and you would’ve beaten me 0 and 0 when I was your age, so you’re doing a lot of good stuff.

“Keep doing it.”

Navarro’s path to the title included wins over Top 20 player Iva Jovic in the second round and a hard-fought quarterfinal against Zhang Shuai. She had never beaten Zhang in three previous meetings before prevailing 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2. Zhang not only won the first set but served for it twice in the second set, at 5-4 and 6-5, and was two points away in the tie-break.

This triumph is Navarro’s first title since last March, when she won another WTA 500 event on hard courts in Merida, Mexico. After the final she thanked her support group for staying the course through a difficult stretch.

“They’ve been with me through thick and thin. It’s been a little bit of a rocky year and a half or so, but I think we’ve put in a lot of really good work, and thank you guys for sticking by me and being incredibly dedicated. You make it fun and worth it. Every day’s a journey and we’re always getting a little bit better.”

The Strasbourg victory restores momentum for the former world No. 8 and gives her clear momentum as the clay season continues.

Ben Rothenberg of Bounces reported the news earlier this week, which was confirmed by the eye test in Strasbourg.

Videos circulated of Victoria Mboko practising under Wim Fissette’s supervision at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, signalling a new working arrangement between the rising Canadian and one of the sport’s most experienced coaches. The collaboration is described as a trial, with Fissette himself confirming the start of work with Mboko.

The timing follows an uneven clay-court campaign for Mboko. After back-to-back quarterfinal appearances in Indian Wells and Miami, she withdrew from Canada’s Billie Jean King Cup tie in mid-April due to getting her wisdom teeth removed. She then lost her opening match at the Mutua Madrid Open to Caty McNally and withdrew from the Internazionali BNL d’Italia with gastrointestinal illness. Prior to Roland Garros, Mboko played only one match across Madrid and Rome before accepting a late wild card into the WTA 500 event in Strasbourg.

For Fissette, the trial with Mboko arrives after the end of his two-year partnership with Iga Swiatek following the Sunshine Double. He has been a coach to many leading WTA players over the last 15 years and his résumé includes Grand Slam champions and other high-profile charges.

“Wim Fissette, coach of many of the best WTA players of the last 15 years, confirmed to me that he’s begun working with rising Canadian Victoria Mboko on a trial basis.”

The arrangement is modest in its initial form: training sessions and practice-court work observed by onlookers and captured on video. Whether the trial develops into a longer-term partnership will depend on results and mutual fit in the weeks ahead during the clay-court swing and at Roland Garros.

Zeynep Sonmez has moved to a new career-high and become the highest-ranked Turkish player in WTA history after a rise to No. 59 this week. The 24-year-old climbed from No. 65 following a second-round showing at the WTA 1000 event in Rome, eclipsing Cagla Buyukakcay’s previous national high of No. 60 from 2016.

Buyukakcay and Sonmez remain the only two Turkish players to crack the Top 100 in WTA rankings. They are also the only two Turkish players to have won WTA titles: Buyukakcay captured the clay-court trophy in Istanbul in 2016, and Sonmez won the hard-court event in Merida, Mexico in 2024.

Sonmez has a direct personal link to that earlier milestone. She was a ballgirl during Buyukakcay’s run to the Istanbul title a decade ago, and told the WTA it was an inspiration. “It was very emotional for me,” she said. “Everyone in Turkish tennis was there. Of course, it was a good inspiration for me and for all Turkish players.”

Her rise to No. 59 follows a breakthrough season on the biggest stages. Last summer at Wimbledon she became the first Turkish player in the Open Era, woman or man, to reach the third round of a Grand Slam. She repeated that third-round appearance at the Australian Open this year.

Sonmez has also established consistent form on tour, advancing at least one round in her last six events, all at WTA 500 level or higher. Highlights of that run include a WTA 500 quarterfinal in Merida and a third-round showing at the WTA 1000 in Madrid. She also recorded the first Top 10 victory of her career against Jasmine Paolini in Stuttgart.

© 2026 Robert Prange