24 March 2019 | Tennis ACT

Destanee Aiava (Vic) has claimed her maiden title in the capital after taking out the ACT Claycourt International #1 in convincing fashion on Sunday.

Aiava dominated the match from the beginning, claiming a 6-2 6-2 win over Japan’s Risa Ozaki.

The 18-year-old was appearing in her fourth final in Canberra and her third at this event, with today the first time she walked away with the winner’s trophy.

It was an impressive win, with Ozaki previously ranked as high as 70 in the world and a former champion in the capital having claimed the 2016 Apis Canberra International.

Aiava was happy to claim her first title in Canberra and fourth ITF World Tennis Tour title overall.

“It means a lot to me.  I haven’t had the best start to the year so far but I felt pretty confident on the clay coming to Canberra.  It’s one of my favourite tournaments as well, so I’m happy to get the win today and my first title for the year.

“I think I stayed focused on one thing and that was to move my feet and not get too far ahead and pretend it wasn’t a final.  I know a lot of people but a lot of pressure on themselves in these big moments, but I just tried to clear my head and stay calm the whole match,” Aiava added.

It capped off a great week for Aiava who also made it through to the women’s doubles final with Ellen Perez (NSW).  The pairing were defeated in a close battle, with top seeds Naiktha Bains (Qld) and Tereza Mihalikova (SVK) coming out on top 4-6 6-2 10-4.

For Bains and Mihalikova it was their second title together in just three appearances.

“We are really happy to win the doubles title here,” said Bains.

“It’s our third time playing together and we won a title together in Tunisia, a 15K a few years ago.  We didn’t have a good week last week, but we regrouped and got going again this week,” Bains added.

Prior to the final a Girls Make Your Move day was held at the Canberra Tennis Centre, with women and girls having the opportunity to try out seven different sports (AFL, Cricket, Hockey, Netball, Rugby, Tennis, and Volleyball), along with Yoga and Zumba session run by Next Gen Canberra.

The Canberra Women in Business, Sport and Leadership Brunch was also held, featuring keynote speaker Libby Minogue, along with an athlete panel Alison Bai (World No.349), Sarah Mcappion (UC Capitals player), Erin Osborne (Canberra Meteors captain), and Claudia Obst (Brumbies Super W).