Sierra lifts Mallorca trophy from her idol Sabatini
Solana Sierra’s commanding run on Mallorca’s clay culminated in a second WTA 125 title, handed to her by Gabriela Sabatini, the legend whose shadow has guided her through a season of mounting breakthroughs and unyielding pressure.
On the sun-drenched red clay of Mallorca, Solana Sierra wrapped up her title run with a decisive 6-3, 6-1 victory over Lola Radivojevic, wrapping the match in just 72 minutes. The top-seeded 21-year-old Argentinian, now ranked No. 86, hoisted her second WTA 125 trophy of the year as the crowd’s cheers swelled under the Mediterranean sky. Tournament ambassador Gabriela Sabatini, a former World No. 1 and Sierra’s enduring idol, stepped forward to present the silverware, turning the ceremony into a poignant handover of legacy and ambition.
Inspiration bridges generations on clay
Sierra’s journey to this moment traced back to July, when her historic run as the first lucky loser to reach Wimbledon’s last 16 spotlighted her rising star, and she named legendary compatriot Gabriela Sabatini as one of her biggest inspirations in tennis. That nod carried forward into the clay swing, fueling a season that began with her maiden WTA 125 crown in Antalya back in March and saw her crack the Top 100 after those grass-court heroics. In Mallorca, Sabatini’s presence in the stands during Sierra’s quarterfinal comeback against Ekaterine Gorgodze—a gritty 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 win that marked the only set she dropped all week—added an electric layer of motivation, sharpening her focus amid the island’s humid breezes.
The psychological lift extended into the semifinals, where Sierra outmaneuvered Andrea Lazaro Garcia 6-2, 7-5 by pinning the Spaniard deep with heavy topspin forehands before unleashing inside-out winners to exploit openings. Her game on the slower surface blended patient baseline probing with sudden accelerations, the 1–2 rhythm of serve and return keeping opponents off-balance in extended rallies. Last month’s tour-level quarterfinal in Sao Paulo had already hinted at this evolution, but here, with Sabatini watching, Sierra’s mental edge turned potential into possession.
“Having Gabriela here has been a great source of inspiration,” Sierra said during the trophy presentation.
Tactics seal dominance amid breakthroughs
Sierra’s Mallorca mastery made her the eighth player to claim multiple WTA 125 titles in 2025, aligning her with Dalma Galfi in Oeiras and Vic, Anca Todoni in Antalya 1 and Bari, Tereza Valentova in Grado and Porto, Francesca Jones in Contrexéville and Palermo, Veronika Erjavec in Changsha and Huzhou, Kaja Juvan in Ljubljana and Samsun, and Sara Bejlek in Makarska and Rende. Each victory layered onto her foundation, transforming the pressure of national expectations into tactical precision on clay, where her footwork danced through the dirt and her crosscourt patterns wore down resistance. The final against Radivojevic showcased this poise, as Sierra stretched rallies to expose the Serb’s positioning, mixing underspin slices with down-the-line passes that sliced through the humid air.
Radivojevic, a 20-year-old ranked No. 173, brought her own surge into the decider, having reached back-to-back WTA 125 finals after dropping the Rende showpiece to Bejlek the week prior and winning 16 of her past 21 matches since the US Open. Her semifinal triumph, an all-Serbian affair where she outlasted 18-year-old qualifier Teodora Kostovic 7-6(3), 6-3, relied on aggressive net rushes and high-bouncing serves to disrupt the flow on the grippy surface. Yet Sierra’s endurance prevailed, her adjustments forcing errors in the lengthening exchanges and underscoring the tactical maturity that defined her week.
Rising challengers hint at fiercer battles
Kostovic’s semifinal push itself embodied the tour’s youth movement, the former junior No. 6 rocketing from No. 892 at the start of 2025 into the Top 200 for the first time after stunning No. 2 seed Mayar Sherif 6-3, 6-4 in the second round and No. 8 seed Maria Lourdes Carle 6-4, 6-2 in the quarters. That momentum echoed her breakthrough qualification for Madrid’s main draw in April, a qualifier’s grit that mirrored Radivojevic’s own WTA debut as a wild card in Belgrade back in 2021. These clashes among emerging talents amplified the stakes for Sierra, each upset a reminder of the relentless competition sharpening her own edge on the red dirt.
In doubles, Czech top seeds Jesika Maleckova and Miriam Skoch capped the week with their fifth WTA 125 title, overwhelming German wild cards Noma Noha Akugue and Mariella Thamm 6-4, 6-0 in the final after prior wins in Parma, Makarska, Bastad, and Tolentino. Their synchronized volleys and instinctive poaching complemented the singles intensity, a partnership thriving under pressure much like Sierra’s solo ascent. As the clay season deepens, Sierra’s blend of inspiration and execution positions her for the European grind ahead, where every surface shift could propel her toward the spotlight’s brighter glare.
