Podoroska had her triumphant baptism in Cali and gave tennis a WTA title after 12 years

The passage of the Argentine tennis players through the WTA 125 of Cali has historical edges.

's victory

, the first title of her career on this professional circuit, meant much more for having faced

and repeating a final between compatriots after almost 33 years.

The victory, with partial scores of 6-4 and 6-2, will place Rosario very close to re-entering the Top 100 of the ranking.

.

On clay, Podoroska, 25, prevailed with clarity and authority over the Sunchalense, after an hour and 31 minutes of play, to close an ideal week in which she had accounted for the top favorite for the title, the Hungarian Reka Luca Jani (111), French Carole Monet (225), Mexican Fernanda Contreras Gómez (183) and Colombian Emiliana Arango (350).

Rosario was ranked 156 in the world ranking, but this title will allow her to rise to 114th, being less than 100 points away from re-entering the WTA Top 100.

In addition, despite the defeat, Ormaechea, 30, will also rise several positions in the ranking and as of this Monday he will be number 156. 

The last final on the WTA circuit between two Argentine tennis players dated back to 1989, when

defeated

7-6, 6-4 in Guarujá, Brazil.

While

, in February 2011 at the Acapulco tournament, had been the last to win a singles title.

The list of Argentine champions has only seven members: the eternal

(27),

(4),

(4),

(3),

(1),

(1) and, now , Podoroska.

A plan to start from scratch that worked

Nadia Podoroska in Spain, where she recovered from the injury that kept her away from the courts.

Photo: Instagram.

At the end of 2022, in an interview with

, the Roland Garros 2020 semifinalist had acknowledged that she fell off a cliff due to a nuisance injury and had to rebuild herself with a plan that was very clear to her: start over.

A proximal tendinopathy of the hamstrings of her right leg stopped her rise - she reached 36th place in the ranking - and forced her to take a long break from the circuit: she did not play from August 2021 to June 2022. That long inactivity left her in front of to a scenario similar to the one he had faced in his early years as a professional and faced with the need to start from the bottom.

"

. With a lot of experience in the backpack and more maturity than I had when I started playing, but doing exactly the same process and the same work as when I was 20 years old and 200th in the world, almost how I am now", summarized La Peque, at the start of a talk with

in a corner of the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis.

Since then, he has alternated tournaments on the ITF World Tour (he reached the final in one in Gran Canaria, Spain, in August), the WTA 125 Series and the WTA circuit, in which his best result was the semifinal at the 250 in Chennai. , in September.

She had many ups and downs and she was aware of it, but she was not discouraged.

"Continuing to be healthy is the main thing. Afterwards, continue building my tennis and my confidence. These months were very mental for me. I think that the difference in my level was not so much in tennis but in mental and emotional. That's why I want to face every day, every week, with the same attitude as always, working and trying to improve", he had projected.

This week in Cali will surely allow it to continue growing.

look too

Mental health, confidence and living without pain: Nadia Podoroska's plan to "start from scratch"

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Podoroska's confession and the impact on the world of sport, which still needs to evolve