By Chris Oddo | Sunday, February 15th, 2015

 

Daniela Hantuchova rallied from a set down to defeat Ajla Tomljanovic and earn her third PTT Thailand Open title.

Photo Source: AFP

Daniela Hantuchova is the queen of Pattaya.

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The 31-year-old took out WTA rising star Ajla Tomljanovic, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, to win her third title in Thailand and the seventh of her career.

Tomljanovic, who reached her first final after battling past Monica Puig in a slugfest semifinal that lasted nearly three hours, had a 6-3, 2-1 lead before Hantuchova rallied to take control. After winning eight of nine games the Slovakian emerged with a 3-0 lead in the third set before Tomljanovic rallied to level at 3-all and four-all.

But Hantuchova would take the final two games to close affairs in two hours and seven minutes.

"Today was very tough because Ajla was playing some great tennis," Hantuchova said, according to WTAtennis.com. "I had to really fight for it—at the end I felt maybe I was a little fresher and sharper, and that decided the match.”

Hantuchova previously captured the Pattaya title in 2011 and 2012. This year she saved two match points in the semifinals to get past Marina Erakovic and earn her first title since she began work with Carlos Rodriguez, Li Na’s former coach.

Tomjlanovic, who had never reached a WTA semifinal before, was inspired by her form. “There are things I can learn from this match and the week,” she said, according to the WTA. "Overall I think this was a really big step forward for me in Pattaya."