Niculescu wins WTA Brazil Cup

Florianopolis (Brazil), March 3 (IANS): Romania’s Monica Niculescu clinched her first WTA singles title with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Russia’s Olga Puchkova in the Brazil Cup tennis.

The 75th-ranked Niculescu Saturday took just under two hours to defeat Puchkova, who a day earlier eliminated former world No.1 Venus Williams in the semifinals, reports Xinhua.

“It’s unbelievable,” Niculescu said. “This means a lot, I was so nervous and wanted to win this so much. My game was not brilliant today but it shows that in tennis if you keep fighting you can win.”

The 25-year-old’s previous best WTA result was finishing runner-up at the Luxembourg Open in both 2011 and last year.

Puchkova, just two days younger than Niculescu, was also playing in her third final, and first since 2006.