Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak beat sixth seed Marion Bartoli to claim her first WTA Tour title at the Stanford Classic.Wozniak was playing in her eighth match of the week, having qualified, and it was only her second final after finishing runner-up in Fes last year.
But she came through 7-5 6-3 against 2007 Wimbledon runner-up Bartoli.
"I believed in myself but I never thought I would win the tournament," said Wozniak. "I surprised myself and I'm so proud of what I accomplished."
She added: "Going through the qualifying and playing eight matches isn't easy."
Her French opponent took a medical timeout at 2-1 down in the second set for a left hip injury and struggled with her movement from then on.
"My leg was moving so slowly and I wasn't able to hit the ball like I was in the past matches," said Bartoli.
"It started to get really bad in the second set but I just wanted to finish the match so the fans could see a complete match."
Wozniak, 20, capitalised on a good performance against Serena Williams in the semi-finals that resulted in the American retiring when well behind.
She becomes the first Canadian since Jill Hetherington in Wellington, 1988, to win a women's singles title.
Elsewhere, France's Pauline Parmentier won her second WTA title with a 6-4 6-4 win over Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka at the Gastein Ladies event in Austria.
"It was a wonderful week for me," said the 53rd-ranked Parmentier.
"I am glad that I played well consistently. The rain made it hard as we had to play many matches in just a few days."
But she came through 7-5 6-3 against 2007 Wimbledon runner-up Bartoli.
"I believed in myself but I never thought I would win the tournament," said Wozniak. "I surprised myself and I'm so proud of what I accomplished."
She added: "Going through the qualifying and playing eight matches isn't easy."
Her French opponent took a medical timeout at 2-1 down in the second set for a left hip injury and struggled with her movement from then on.
"My leg was moving so slowly and I wasn't able to hit the ball like I was in the past matches," said Bartoli.
"It started to get really bad in the second set but I just wanted to finish the match so the fans could see a complete match."
Wozniak, 20, capitalised on a good performance against Serena Williams in the semi-finals that resulted in the American retiring when well behind.
She becomes the first Canadian since Jill Hetherington in Wellington, 1988, to win a women's singles title.
Elsewhere, France's Pauline Parmentier won her second WTA title with a 6-4 6-4 win over Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka at the Gastein Ladies event in Austria.
"It was a wonderful week for me," said the 53rd-ranked Parmentier.
"I am glad that I played well consistently. The rain made it hard as we had to play many matches in just a few days."
Source: BBC SPORT
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