Li was playing in her fourth WTA final and seeking a second title, having won her first in Tenerife in 2021. But the Belgian had too much quality for the younger American today, and her experience shone through in a confident, clinical display.

Li’s serve was under constant threat, not helped by a second-serve win percentage of just 38%, as Mertens broke her opponent five times in total.

Li, on the other hand, only managed a single break of serve as the Belgian wrapped up an impressive title run in comfortable fashion.

In the previous rounds of the Singapore Open 2025, Mertens, ranked No 32, beat American Taylor Townsend (6-1, 6-0), German Tatjana Maria (6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1), Colombian Camila Osorio, the No 6 seed (6-4, 6-2) and Chinese Xinyu Wang, the No 4 seed (6-3, 6-4).

Li, ranked No 85, beat Australian Daria Saville (6-3, 6-1), Russian lucky loser Maria Timofeeva (6-3, 6-2), Australian wildcard Kimberly Birrell (7-6 (2), 7-6 (4)) and Russian Anna Kalinskaya, the top seed (7-6 (2), 1-0 ret.) earlier in the tournament.