By Chris Oddo | Sunday April 28, 2019
Petra Martic edged Marketa Vondrousova in the Istanbul Cup final to claim her first WTA title.
Photo Source: Istanbul Cup
Petra Martic rallied from a set down to cap her biggest career victory, defeating Marketa Vondrousova 1-6 6-4 6-1 to claim the Istanbul Cup title on Sunday.
More: Kvitova Becomes WTA's First Multi-Title Winner of 2019
The Croatian had to battle to take the middle set, but saved three set points as she served out the set from 0-40 down to force a decider.
Martic improves to 12-6 on the season and becomes the 19th different title winner on the WTA Tour in 2019. Earlier on Sunday Petra Kvitova became the first two-time winner when she defeated Anett Kontaveit in the final at Stuttgart.
Martic turned the match on its ear in the decider, winning 13 of 20 return points and breaking three times on five opportunities. In total the Croatian won 50 percent of her return points and broke six times on 11 opportunities.
Martic has now won nine of her last ten matches, falling only to Caroline Wozniacki in the Charleston semis earlier in April.
Despite the loss, Vondrousova has continued her exceptional start to 2019 with another final appearance. The 19-year-old finishes the week at 19-5 on the season. She reached the Budapest final in February before reaching the quarter-finals at Indian Wells and Miami and winning two Fed Cup rubbers last weekend against Canada.
She falls to 0-4 lifetime against Martic, but did manage to take a set from the 28-year-old for the first time.