Johanna Konta loses first clay-court final at Morocco Open in Rabat

British No 1 Johanna Konta lost 2-6 6-4 6-1 to Maria Sakkari in the first clay-court final of her career at the Morocco Open in Rabat.

The victory for Sakkari marks her first career WTA singles title and she did it the hard way by recovering from being a set, and a break, down to Konta.

Early on, Britain's best appeared on course for her first tournament win in two years. The 27-year-old cruised through the first set and then opened up a 4-2 lead in the second.

But sixth-seed Sakkari hit back, she twice broke Konta and sealed the second set 6-4. Not content with that, Sakkari upped the ante again and romped to her first career title by taking the decider 6-1.

Sakkari appeared beaten when she lost her serve in the fifth game of the second set, but, after trailing 4-2, she rallied impressively to win no less than 10 of the next 11 games.

As the Greek took control, Konta visibly tired which may have been a result of spending three hours more on court than her opponent leading into the final.

The victory for Sakkari means she is guaranteed to move up into the top 50 when the new WTA rankings are released on Monday.

For Britain's No 1, positives can be taken. This final was her first since Nottingham last year, and her four victories over the course of the week, marked the first time that she has claimed more than two main-draw wins in succession on clay.