Safarova wins Prague Open for 7th career WTA title

Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova celebrates with the trophy after winning the final match at the WTA tennis tournament. (Petr David Josek/AP)

PRAGUE, Czech Republic — Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic came from a set down to win the Prague Open, overcoming Sam Stosur of Australia 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the final on Saturday.

Safarova broke Stosur for 4-3 in the final set and served out with her 14th ace to claim her seventh WTA title, and first in 14 months. She improved her record against Stosur to 11-3.

"It was a big fight," Safarova said. "It’s always tough against her. I was waiting for my chance and it came in the second set."

Coming back from a bacterial infection last year, Safarova, the French Open runner-up last year, didn’t win a singles this season until this week in Prague, where she won five in a row.

In the opening set, Stosur got a break for 2-0 and held on, saving one break point at 4-2 before serving it out.

But she struggled with her serve in the remaining two sets, serving seven double faults. She didn’t look disappointed after the final.

"I still had a pretty good week," the 2011 U.S. Open champion said.

Safarova broke Stosur to go 2-0 up in the second set after the Australian double-faulted on a break point, and got another break for 4-0 with a forehand winner.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.