Martyna Kubka beams with the trophy after her success in Val Gardena. © Alex & Diego Runggaldier
The women’s ITF tournament in Selva di Val Gardena ended on Saturday with the singles final. A Polish woman was able to celebrate her first triumph in South Tyrol.
December 6, 2025
From: pm
The 24-year-old Martyna Kubka from Poland was crowned Queen of Wolkenstein on the final Saturday of the “Raiffeisen ITF Women’s Val Gardena Südtirol”: after her successes in the doubles competition in 2023 (alongside the Dutch Jasmjin Gimbrere) and 2024 (with the Swede Lisa Zaar) as well as the defeat in the singles final two years ago (2:6, 2:6 against TC Rungg player Julie Struplova) the Pole finally achieved a triumph in the singles.
In front of a great backdrop in the hard court hall of TC Gherdëina, Kubka beat the German Noma Noha Akugue 7:5, 6:3 in a high-class title match after an hour and 15 minutes of play. “It’s the biggest individual success of my career so far, so I’m very happy,” said the winner in the post-match interview.
Serves are the key to success
With Martyna Kubka and Noma Noha Akugue, the players who had the most offensive game orientation throughout the week and were therefore able to produce the most dominant performances faced off in the final. The game got off to a correspondingly spectacular start: many aces and direct winning shots characterized the initial phase; long rallies remained a rarity.
Akugue in Akugue in Akugue. © Alex & Diego Guredi.
At the beginning, Noha Akugue repeatedly sniffed at a break of serve, while Kubka got the first break chance of the game at 4:3, but she was not yet able to take advantage of it. A little later, the second opportunity also represented a set point – and the Pole made it 7:5. The German had a hard time in this phase, an early break for Kubka to make it 2-0 in the second round suggested an abrupt end to the game – but Noha Akugue fought back: an immediate rebreak, a quick service game and the score was immediately 2-2.
“I just wanted to have fun”
The left-hander also had chances afterwards, but Kubka repeatedly pulled herself out of the affair with her powerful serve. A break for the Pole to make it 5:3 ultimately proved to be the preliminary decision, because shortly afterwards she confidently served for the title: 7:5, 6:3 in exactly 75 minutes of playing time.
“I think I served well throughout the week. That helped me a lot. I went into every match relaxed, confident in myself and my abilities. I just wanted to have fun here in Selva – and I think that made the difference today,” said a beaming winner in the on-court interview.
“Probably the best edition so far”
The high-class final represented a well-deserved end to a fantastic tournament week: the work of the OK team around TCG President Ingo Mair and tournament director Wolfgang Wanker was once again highly praised and appreciated from all sides. The organizing committee itself was also satisfied with the 6th edition.
“That was probably our best edition so far,” explained Wanker. “All eight seeded players were within the top 250, and the standard of the field was extremely high overall. Two such rousing finals – also with home participation in the doubles – contributed their part to the spectacle. Many thanks to everyone involved who made this wonderful week possible.”
