Kamilla Rakhimova and Sara Sorribes Tormo, Transylvania Open doubles champions! Impressive comeback from the winners in the second set

Saturday's day at the Transylvania Open began with the doubles final between Xinyu Wang/Saisai Zheng and Sara Sorribes Tormo/Kamilla Rakhimova. In the semi-final, the pair from China managed to defeat the Romanians Jaqueline Cristian and Gabriela Ruse in the decisive set, while the Uzbek-Spanish pair won the duel with Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah and Veronika Erjavec in a big fight.

Kamilla Rakhimova, impressive gesture before the match: “She chose to give a gift”

Before the start of the match, Rakhimova made a special gesture, offering a gift to a spectator in the stands.

“Ladies and gentlemen, one of the players in this final has chosen to give a gift to one of you. Under a chair is a bag like this with a pair of shoes from Kamilla Rakhimova“, the announcer of the tournament said on the microphone.

After a few seconds, a woman in the center area found a black bag under her seat containing a pair of shoes with Rakhimova's autograph and a short message from her.

Kamilla Rakhimova, special gesture before the doubles final at the Transylvania Open/Photo: Imago Images

Kamilla Rakhimova and Sara Sorribes Tormo, show of character in the Transylvania Open final

The opening set was extremely balanced and lasted 64 minutes. The two pairs went head-to-head until 2-2 when Wang and Zheng managed the break to pull ahead at 4-2. Rakhimova and Sorribes Tormo came back, won 3 consecutive games, but did not close the set.

The score became 6-6 and the tiebreak followed, which had the same scenario. Finally, the Chinese women had the first set point of the match. The opponents got out of the complicated situation, but they wasted a set point. Finally, Rakhimova and Sorribes Tormo closed the set: 7-6 (7).

The first part of the second sequence was dominated by Wang and Zheng, who broke and led 3-0. The Uzbek-Spanish pair once again showed combativeness and turned the score around, pulling off an incredible 6-game streak that earned him victory, 7-6 (7), 6-3, after one hour and 47 minutes.

Sorribes Tormo, message for her colleague: “I hope we can play together again, especially since I take care of you”

Hello everyone, I'm very happy to be here! It's unbelievable to me so thank you for coming. I want to congratulate the opponents. Xinyu, Saisai, you always have respect, congratulations for all you do! Congratulations to the organizers, I think it's the best WTA 250 in the world, I hope you continue for many, many years. Thank you Kamilla for playing with me, I hope we can play together many more times, especially as I take care of you

– Sara Sorribes Tormo

Hello, hello! A great event, great ground, great crowd. You like to watch tennis. Thanks to all the organizers, we feel amazing here. Sara, thank you for playing with me, when I received your message I was very happy. I hope to come back here

– Kamilla Rakhimova

The course of the Rakhimova/Sorribes Tormo pair at the Transylvania Open

• Round 1: 6-4, 6-2 vs. I-Hsuan Cho/Yi Tsen Cho

• Quarter finals: 6-2, 6-3 vs. Maja Chwalinska/Kaja Juvan

• Semifinals: 6-2, 6-7 (6), 11-9 vs. Veronika Erjavec/Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah

• Final: 7-6 (7), 6-3 vs. Xinyu Wang/Saisai Zheng

The path of the Wang/Zheng pair at the Transylvania Open

• Round 1: 6-7 (5), 6-4, 10-8 vs. Ulrikke Eikeri/Magali Kempen

• Quarter finals: 7-5, 6-3 vs. Irina Bara/Ekaterine Gorgodze

• Semifinals: 6-3, 2-6, 10-5 vs. Jaqueline Cristian/Gabriela Ruse

• Final: 6-7 (7), 3-6 vs. Sara Sorribes Tormo/Kamilla Rakhimova