Australia’s Samantha Stosur won the HP Open Osaka title on Sunday after she defeated Eugenie Bouchard of Canada in a tough three-set match 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.
“It was a really tough match today. I’m very, very happy to win,” Stosur said. “I thought Genie played very well. She had game point at 5-all in the second set and went for the drive volley and missed it wide, and then I played a very good service game to win the set – that was probably the turning point.
“It’s obviously great to win, but it feels better knowing you really had to fight for it. I’m really excited about my second title here, and also the first time to win two titles in a year. It’s just great.”
Stosur became the first player in this tournament to win the title twice. She first won the title in 2009.
Though disappointed, Bouchard said that she’ll be taking a lot of lessons from the match.
“I’m disappointed because I always want to win, but I’ll take the lessons from this and keep working hard,” Bouchard said. “I definitely tried my best today. I feel like I was playing the right way in the first set, but she raised her level in the second set and started playing much better in the third.
“Sometimes when your opponent plays really well, you just have to congratulate them.”
The doubles event winners were number two seeds Kristina Mladenovic and Flavia Pennetta.
