Tereza Smitkova, who burst into prominence with a spirited run to the second week of Wimbledon this year, has won the biggest title of her career, capturing the Open GDF SUEZ de Limoges, the last of five WTA 125K Series tournaments on the calendar in 2014.
Having already pulled off a few surprises during the week, most notably upending No.6 seed Alison Van Uytvanck in the second round and former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the semis, Smitkova saved another one for the final, beating No.9 seed Kristina Mladenovic for the title. It wasn't easy by any means - the first set lasted almost an hour, and she found herself down a double break at 4-1 in the second set - but Smitkova dug herself out of all of those holes, blasting 12 aces and finishing strong to close Mladenovic out in a close one in an hour and 40 minutes, 7-6(4), 7-5. This has been by far the best year of Smitkova's young career.
She finished 2013 at No.239 but has stormed the Top 100 this year, her greatest result coming at Wimbledon, making it all the way to the fourth round as a No.175-ranked qualifier, where she fell to eventual semifinalist Lucie Safarova.
Smitkova broke the Top 100 for the first time after that and now, after winning the biggest title of her career in Limoges, she's guaranteed to improve on her career-high of No.83.
