Nuria Brancaccio outlasted Julia Riera 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 in a seesaw battle at the WTA 125K Rome, pulling out the decisive tiebreak after a wild final set. Brancaccio’s first-set break at 3-1 set the tone, but she lost control in the second as Riera won 10 of the last 11 games.
The third set produced six breaks of serve—three by each player. Riera led 5-2 after breaking at 2-3 and 2-5, but Brancaccio broke back at 3-5 and 5-5 to force the tiebreak, which she won to close out the match. Brancaccio saved only 2 of 7 break points overall, while Riera saved 6 of 10.
Brancaccio’s first-serve percentage (78%) was 11 points higher than Riera’s, but she won fewer total points (80-83). The turning point came when Brancaccio broke Riera serving for the match at 5-3 in the decider, sparking a run of four straight games to steal the win.