Germany’s Laura Siegemund was the shock winner of Stuttgart’s WTA tournament on Sunday after her three-set win over France’s Kristina Mladenovic in the final.
Siegemund, ranked 49th in the world and a wild card entry for the main draw, sealed a 6-1, 2-6, 7-6(5) win over Mladenovic, who had beaten Maria Sharapova in the semi-final, ending the Russian’s comeback from a 15-month doping ban.
The 29-year-old converted her first match point after nearly two-and-a-half hours to claim only her second WTA win after victory at Bastad, Sweden, in July 2016.
“It was an incredible match, I don’t know how I managed to win here,” said the new champion.
Praising her rival, the 23-year-old Mladenovic said, “Laura played some really entertaining tennis.”
Siegemund made a strong start, charging into a 4-0 lead after twice breaking Mladenovic’s serve in what proved to be a topsy-turvy first set.
The French tennis player, the world No 19, broke Siegemund in the fifth game, but the German returned the compliment breaking Mladenovic straight away, then serving out to take the first set in 29 minutes.
Just as she did in her three-set win over Sharapova, Mladenovic turned things around to take the second set, breaking Siegemund twice to force a third set.
The decider swung back and forth with both players breaking the other twice to force the tie-breaker, but it was Siegemund who held her nerve to claim victory.
She drove away with the prize of a brand new Porsche sports car and $116,621 in winnings.
