MAGDALENA Rybarikova won her first career title after defeating Na Li in straight sets in the AEGON Classic final at Edgbaston yesterday.
The Slovakian 20-year-old, ranked 58th in the world, had never reached an WTA final before but made short work of her Chinese opponent, wrapping up a 6-0 7-6 (7/2) victory in 73 minutes.
Li, the fourth seed, had overcome former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova in the semi-final but could not even take a game off Rybarikova in the opening set, who recorded her second 6-0 scoreline in two matches.
The second set was a different story, with both players holding serve through to a tie-break, but from there Rybarikova proved too strong again and won comfortably to secure the title.
Rybarikova said: ‘‘I won the first set so easily but the second was so tough as she started to play so much better.
I was nervous in the tiebreak but she looked more nervous than me, so that helped me concentrate even harder.’’ Victory takes Rybarikova from 58th in the world rankings to a career high of 42.
‘‘Winning today is the best feeling of my career so far.
It’s unbelievable, just like a dream,’’ she added. ‘‘I was so happy that she (Li) beat Sharapova as she is such a great player and I am not sure I could have beat her today.’’ Li said: ‘‘I was so excited last night after I beat Sharapova, I forgot I had a match today. It has been a good week for me though. I like grass very much.’’ Top seeds Cara Black of Zimbabwe and American Liezel Huber successfully defended their doubles title with a 6-1 6-4 victory over Americans Raquel Kops- Jones and Abigail Spears.
■ Britain’s Laura Robson was defeated in the third of her exhibition matches against Ukrainian Olga Savchuk at the Nottingham Masters as she continued her preparations for Wimbledon.
Robson, 15, who is set to become the youngest player to appear in the women’s tournament at SW19 since Martina Hingis played in 1995 at the age of 14, lost 6-4 6-4 to an opponent six years her senior.
The reigning Wimbledon girls’ champion had beaten Savchuk in a super tie-breaker, after losing their initial encounter in similar circumstances on Friday.
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