Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands ended the dream run of 19-year-old qualifier Noma Noha Akugue of Germany, winning the title at the Hamburg European Open 6-0, 7-6 (3) on Saturday.
Rus, the No. 7 seed, cruised in the opening set, with Noha Akugue stepping up to break serve in the opening game of the second set. But Rus broke right back and was on the brink of the title at 5-4 in the second set before Noha Akugue saved two championship points on her serve.
Noha Akugue then saved two more championship points in the tiebreak after Rus peeled off six consecutive points before finally falling in her main-draw debut. Rus won the match in 1 hour, 45 minutes.
Rus, a former top-ranked player at the junior level, won her first title at age 32 and is poised to break into the top 50 in the world for the first time when the new rankings are released.
"The day was very long because I was very nervous all day long, but I'm happy that I could play good tennis and it was a great final from both of us," Rus said. "I'm very proud of myself that after so many years, I made my first title."
BNP Paribas Warsaw Open
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek was on the brink of advancing to the final before her semifinal match against Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium was postponed by darkness while leading 6-1, 5-5.
Swiatek led 5-2 in the second set before Wickmayer rallied to stay alive. Swiatek served for the match at both 5-2 and 5-4 but could not advance before the postponement.
Swiatek or Wickmayer will face Laura Siegemund of Germany in the final. Siegemund produced a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 semifinal victory over countrywoman Tatjana Maria.
It was a busy day as Swiatek advanced with a quarterfinal win earlier Saturday 6-1, 6-4 over No. 8 seed Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic. Wickmayer advanced to the semis with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Heather Watson of Great Britain. Siegemund also played her quarterfinal match Saturday, winning 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-3 over Lucrezia Stefanini of Italy.
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