Tennis-Chwalinska outwits Kartal to win Wuhan Open

WUHAN, China, Oct 18 — French Open finalist Maja Chwalinska won her first ​title on the WTA tour as she shook off early nerves to beat Sonay Kartal 2-6 6-4 6-2 ‌at the Wuhan Open final on Sunday.

Left-hander Chwalinska deployed a defensive right-handed lob ⁠to disrupt Kartal's flow and ​outwitted the Briton with clever ⁠changes of direction and winners into the corners.

Briton Kartal, ‌170th in the ‌WTA rankings and the lowest-ranked finalist in a WTA ⁠1000 tournament, dominated the first ⁠set with powerful forehands as her Polish opponent's drop shots and slices kept landing wide.

But Chwalinska, fresh off a win over childhood friend Iga Swiatek, fought back in the second set, dragging Kartal into long rallies and earning three ‌breaks to force a decider.

Under pressure, ​Kartal struggled with netted returns in the third set, making 11 unforced errors as an emboldened Chwalinska won four games in a row to clinch victory.

"That was one heck of a battle," said Kartal, who returned from a six-month injury layoff last month and is expected to break ​into the top-50 in the rankings.

Chwalinska, who became the first ‌qualifier to reach ‌the French ⁠Open final in June, credited her coaches for their help during the best year in the 25-year-old's career, where she started as 146th in the world and is now likely ‌to rise to a ​career-high 11th.

"I am very grateful for ‌every person in ⁠my life, ​basically," she said.

(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Purulia, India; Editing by ​Ed Osmond)

Related topics