Second seed Eleni Daniilidou won the ASB Classic international women's tennis title in Auckland today after a hard fought three-set match against Korean Yoon Jeong Cho.
After winning the first set 6-4, Daniilidou, of Greece lost the second 4-6 before prevailing in a tiebreak to secure the third 7-6.
It was the
first time since the tournament was relaunched in 1985 that a final has been decided by a third set tiebreak.
"It was an incredible match, both of us were fighting a lot," Daniilidou said of a contest which lasted two hours 25 minutes.
"She played so flat and deep, I couldn't attack and we were really tired, but I played the more important points better and that was the difference.
"In the last two games, I was really cramping, but I tried not to show that to her because it was really a mental game at that point."
Daniilidou couldn't believe her luck when she saved two match points late in the third set at 4-5.
Cho was delighted to get as far as she did.
"I'm very happy with my week. I would have loved to won my first WTA Tour title, but she played too good.
"I tried really hard and played so well all week, it gives me a lot of confidence for the Australian Open."
Both players were visibly tiring in the last set but their strokes continued to be precise, with Daniilidou serving only four double faults in the entire match to Cho's one.
The result gave Daniilidou her second career title while Cho became the first Korean female to reach the final of a tier four WTA tournament.
Finals results (prefix denotes seeding):
Singles: 2-Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) bt Yoon Jeong Cho (Korea) 6-4 4-6 7-6 (2).
Doubles: Teryn Ashley (USA)/Abigail Spears (USA) bt 1-Elena Likhovtseva (Russia)/Cara Black (Zimbabwe) 6-2 2-6 6-0.
- NZPA
