Lucie Safarova won her first title of the year by defeating Samantha Stosur of Australia 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 on clay in the Prague Open final on Saturday. Ranked 16th in the world, Safarova defeated fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova to get into the final, while Stosur enjoyed a walkover when Russia's Svetlana Kuznestova withdrew due to a thigh injury.
Safarova, who lost to Serena Williams in the French Open final last year, struggled on serve in the opening set and was soon 0-2 down. The Australian then had problems of her own on serve in the second set, four double faults allowing the home player to move ahead. The deciding set was a cliff-hanger with 29-year-old Safarova breaking to love to lead 4-3 before serving twice for the win. It was her first title success since Doha in February of last year and follows an injury-hit start to the season that saw her crash out five times at the first round stage.
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