Sam Stosur wins on clay at Bad Gastein in Austria

Sam Stosur recovered from the brink of defeat to beat Karin Knapp in a three-set final at the Bad Gastein Open in Austria.

The 31-year-old Australian won 3-6 7-6 (7/3) 6-2 in a marathon battle that lasted more than two and a half hours.

However, her chances of victory appeared slim when the No 3 seed from Italy served for the match at 5-4 in the second set.

But Knapp was broken to 15 to allow Stosur back in the contest, with the No 2 seed going on to clinch her second WTA Tour title of the year.

Although she saved three set points in the 12th game, world No 43 Knapp conceded the tie-break despite sharing the opening six points.

And the 28-year-old fell away completely in the decider, sending down five double faults and being broken twice.

It was a first-ever career meeting between the pair, with Stosur collecting an eighth title on the WTA Tour.

Earlier this season she had also won on clay, winning the Strasbourg International in May.

Meanwhile in Turkey, Lesia Tsurenko won her first WTA Tour title beating Poland's Urszula Radwanska 7-5 6-1 in the final of the Istanbul Cup.

The 26-year-old from Kiev was competing in her first final while Radwanska lost her second career title match and first for three years.