Santangelo wins Bangalore Open

Third seed Mara Santangelo of Italy defeated sixth seed Jelena Kostanic of Croatia in a thrilling three-set final in the $1,75,000 Bangalore Open tennis tournament on Sunday.

The 57th ranked Italian came back after losing the opening set to beat the 69th ranked Croat 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 and take the championship.

Santangelo cruised to a 5-0 lead in the semifinals after which her American opponent Vania King retired with an injury.

In contrast, Kostanic registered a 6-0, 7-6 (6/2) win over Melinda Czink of Hungary in her route to the summit final.

First Published: Feb 20, 2006 00:17 IST