Emily Whitlock* won her fourth WSA World Tour title yesterday after beating *Victoria Lust* in the *Tour10 Madison Open* in the US.
The 18-year-old Englishwoman played to her top seeding by defeating qualifier *Antonella Falcione* and fellow Englishwoman *Carrie Ramsey* in the opening rounds, both in straight games.
Last month’s British Junior Under 19 Champion then ended the run of giant-killing qualifier *Habiba Mohamed Ahmed Alymohmed*, who in her third ever WSA event, dispatched fifth and third seeds *Deon Saffrey* and *Megan Craig*. Astonishingly aged just 13-years-old, Alymohmed claimed both scalps in five-games, but was unable to repeat the feat in the semi-finals and Whitlock sent the Egyptian home after a four-game win.
In the final she faced another English compatriot, Victoria Lust. The 23-year-old winner of last month’s NSA Fall Classic in Toronto was yet to drop a game entering the final, but had seen off a tiebreak game in each of her previous matches. USA’s *Sabrina Sobhy* was dispatched in the first round, followed by England’s *Zephanie Curgenven* in the quarters and *Orla Noom* of the Netherlands in the semi-final.
Playing her 14th WSA final, the older finalist sprung an early lead on Whitlock, as the younger player failed to mount a threat. This was reversed in the second game, as Whitlock came back at her compatriot with a dominant display, shutting out Lust’s attempts to hold her lead. A narrower third game saw both players tested, but it was the teenager who showed a steadier nerve to take the lead, before ending the contest in the fourth game.
Neither player is due to appear in the *Cayman Islands World Open* later this month, but Whitlock is seeded first in the *Colwyn Classic* in Wales at the end of Decemer.
