Lost a year to a knee injury
The title came barely three months after his comeback. Girlings suffered a serious knee injury in August 2025 and spent nearly a year off the court before resuming competition in the summer, and her absence saw her ranking drop significantly. He entered the main draw in Mallorca with a wildcard provided by the Spanish Tennis Federation.
“This was a very special tournament for me and I’m sure I’ll be back,” Girlings said after the final, according to the WTA.
Tournament ambassador Gabriela Sabatini, a former world No. 3, praised the wonderful match and what the Girls have achieved after such a long absence.
Meeting Samson for the first time, Girlings rarely worried. After an early break in each direction, he took the first set 6-2 in 30 minutes. Samson came back from 0-2 down to 2-2 in the second set, but Girlings broke back at the end of a long game for 3-2 and won again 5-2 before closing out the title.
Samson, one of the brightest prospects in the Czech game
Her run in Mallorca started with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Bosnia’s Thea Kovacevic and a 6-4, 6-2 win over Spain’s Lucia Cortes of Llorca. She then defeated Austrian top seed Julia Grabher 7:6 (4), 6:3 in the quarterfinals, and Malta’s Francesca Kurmi 6:2, 6:3 in the semifinals.
The 18-year-old Samson, ranked number 113, is one of the brightest prospects in the Czech game. She won the 2023 Wimbledon girls’ doubles title with Alena Kovackova and reached the 2024 Roland Garros girls’ singles final. In 2024 in Prague, she became the first player born in 2008 or later to win a WTA main draw match.
In Mallorca, she opened with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 win over Spain’s Aran Teixido Garcia and defeated French qualifier Lucy Nguyen Tan 6-0, 6-3. Spain’s No. 5 Andrea Lazaro Garcia is down 6-0 in the quarterfinals, losing 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 to Slovenia’s No. 6 Tamara Zidanschek in the semifinals.
