BASTAD, Sweden (AP) Sixth-seeded Laura Siegemund clinched her first WTA title Sunday with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the Swedish Open final.
Siegemund, who reached the final after her fellow German Julia Goerges retired with a hip injury in the semifinals, came through a tough opening set before going on to seal a comfortable victory in 83 minutes.
''This is one of my favorite tournaments, and I can't believe I won this one,'' said Siegemund, who made her main draw debut in Bastad in 2010.
''I was in good shape, and was playing well last week as well. I knew I could do well here but winning the whole thing is something you might not really expect or think about.''
She won 75 percent of her first-serve points and faced only one break point in the match.
Siegemund showed her clay court prowess earlier in the season at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, where she defeated Simona Halep, Roberta Vinci, and Agnieszka Radwanska to reach her first WTA final as a qualifier.
Set to make her Olympic debut at the Rio de Janeiro Games, she is expected to reach a career-high ranking of No. 32, which would put her in contention for a seeded entry at the upcoming U.S. Open.
''I got a new perspective on tennis,'' she said. ''It's a great sport, and that kind of gave me some freedom on the court to try things and change my game.''
The 92nd-ranked Siniakova, had also been chasing her first WTA title.
