Siniakova captures maiden title with Shenzhen win

Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic waves to the audience after winning the women’s singles final match against Alison Riske of the US at the WTA Shenzhen Open in Shenzhen in China’s southern Guangdong province on January 7, 2017 - AFP

Reuters: Katerina Siniakova overcame a slow start to win her maiden WTA Tour title with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Alison Riske in the Shenzhen Open final on Saturday.

The Czech world number 52 had beaten top-10 players Simona Halep and Johanna Konta on her way to the final and fulfilled her promise as a junior with a first senior title after losing her two previous WTA finals in Bastad and Tokyo last year.

The 20-year-old Siniakova suffered an early break but fought back against her American opponent by reeling off four straight games to take control of the opener before she broke twice in the second set on the way to a 78-minute triumph.

“It’s been a really great week for me and I’m so glad that I won this time because this match was really tough. I didn’t play my best but I’m really happy that I did it,” Siniakova said at the presentation.