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Eugenie Bouchard wins over tennis world with stunning comeback

Eugenie Bouchard came close to winning her first WTA title in six years, going down to Patricia Maria Tig at the TEB BNP Paribas Tennis Championship Istanbul. (Photo by Martin Sidorjak/Getty Images)
Eugenie Bouchard came close to winning her first WTA title in six years, going down to Patricia Maria Tig at the TEB BNP Paribas Tennis Championship Istanbul. (Photo by Martin Sidorjak/Getty Images)

Patricia Maria Tig rallied from a set down to beat Canada's Eugenie Bouchard 2-6 6-1 7-6(4) in the final of the TEB BNP Paribas Tennis Championship Istanbul on Sunday to claim her maiden WTA crown.

Romanian Tig, ranked 88 in the world, dropped the first set tamely but raced through the next to level the contest at one set apiece as her opponent let the advantage slip with a number of errors amid a nervy display.

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But qualifier Bouchard, a former top-five player who reached the Wimbledon final and semi-finals at the Australian Open and Roland Garros in 2014 before slipping to 272 in the rankings, showed plenty of fight to force a tiebreak in the final set.

The 26-year-old saved seven match points in the contest but Tig was not to be denied in the decider, as she held her nerve to close out the victory in two hours and 29 minutes.

Bouchard, who was playing in her first WTA final since 2016 and stunned top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova en route the title clash in Turkey, won her only trophy on the Tour six years ago when she prevailed in Nuremberg.

Osaka’s options open after US Open triumph

Naomi Osaka captured the third grand slam title of her career with a battling 1-6 6-3 6-3 triumph over Belarusian Victoria Azarenka to lift her second US Open trophy in three years.

However, her next chance at a title may not come straight away, as she sounded uncertain about whether she will be attending the French Open, which starts in Paris in two weeks.

"French Open? I was planning to play when I came here, but I guess I'll see what happens," she said.

Clay is not her favourite surface and she has also been carrying a hamstring injury since the Western & Southern Open.

Naomi Osaka lifts the trophy after winning the 2020 US Open.
Naomi Osaka of Japan celebrates with the trophy after winning her women's singles final against Victoria Azarenka at the 2020 US Open. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

In Saturday's final thriller, the Japanese fourth seed rallied back from a set and a break down to snap Azarenka's 11-match winning streak and maintain her perfect record in major finals.

Exactly two weeks after forfeiting from her Western & Southern Open final against Azarenka due to the hamstring injury, Osaka proved her mettle with a gutsy 112-minute win at an empty Arthur Ashe stadium.

This was Osaka's third win from four meetings with Azarenka, who has now lost all three of her US Open finals. She was pushed to the brink by the two-time Australian Open champion and was quick to give her credit during her victory speech.

"Firstly, I want to congratulate Vika. I actually don't want to play you in more finals, I didn't really enjoy that. It was a really tough match for me," joked Osaka.

"It's really inspiring for me because I used to watch you play here when I was younger, so just to have the opportunity to play you is really great."

With Australian Associated Press