McHale wins maiden WTA singles title

TOKYO: Christina McHale of the United States rallied to beat Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to win the Japan Open and claim her

Published on: Sep 19, 2016, 06:15:57 IST

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TOKYO: Christina McHale of the United States rallied to beat Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to win the Japan Open and claim her first WTA singles title.

Seventh-seeded McHale broke her opponent seven times including in the final game to secure the win at Ariake Tennis Park.

Siniakova, also bidding for her first singles title, got off to a promising start by winning the first set but couldn’t hold a 4-2 lead in the second set when McHale put together a run of eight straight games to take control.

“I don’t even want to put my trophy down - I just want to hold it all the time,” McHale said. “I’ve been coming to this tournament for a few years now and I really love it here.”

MOLINARI WINS TITLE AFTER FOUR YEARS

MILAN: An ‘exhausted’ Francesco Molinari ended his four-year wait for a win on the European tour with a one-stroke victory over Danny Willett at the Italian Open.

Molinari, whose last EPGA win came at the Spanish Open in 2012, finished on 22 under par at the par-71 Golf Club di Milano course.

“At the last hole I was just exhausted. I didn’t have anything left. It was only the nervous energy that got me through,” said a visibly weary Molinari. “I was hitting horrible shots but somehow I managed to bring it in.”

CHUN HEADS KOREAN LOCK-OUT IN EVIAN

EVIAN, FRANCE: South Korea’s Chun In Gee claimed her second major title in record style with a final round 69 at the Evian Championship on Sunday.

The 22-year-old led from start to finish and her 21 under par 263 total was two lower than the women’s major record.

And it was one better than the men’s record set by Jason Day at last year’s PGA Championship at Whistling Straits and then equalled by Henrik Stenson at this summer’s Open Championship at Royal Troon.

Chun is the second South Korean to win the Evian title since it became a major three years ago. Kim Hyo Joo was the 2014 champion.

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