WTA Portugal Open: Carla Suarez Navarro beats Sventlana Kuznetsova in final
Saturday 3 May 2014 15:37, UK
Carla Suarez Navarro clinched her maiden WTA title with a 6-4 3-6 6-4 victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final of the Portugal Open.
The Spaniard had reached the final of the clay-court event in each of the past two years and had also finished as runner-up on three other occasions at the Tour level.
And she finally ended her wait for a title after battling past top seed Kuznetsova in a tight contest which lasted 2 hours 10 minutes.
Two-time grand slam winner Kuznetsova, who was playing in her first final in more than three years, looked set for victory when she took a 4-1 lead in the deciding set.
But Suarez Navarro did not give up, breaking her opponent’s serve three times in a row as she won five straight games and 18 of the last 24 points to complete the win.
"I'm very happy that I've finally won a title. I was nervous today, it's not easy playing here," Suarez Navarro said.
"On match point I was only thinking about putting the ball in. It felt really good when it was all over. This was a very special day for me, my most special moment so far."
She added: "The most important thing was to play solid all the time. That was not easy as we were both making mistakes.
"We both wanted to win this final, it was a close match all the way through. She played better than me at the start but I finished better at the end."
