By Chris Oddo | Sunday June 17, 2018
Australia's Ash Barty claimed her second career title by edging Johanna Konta in a three-set thriller for the Nottingham trophy.
Photo Source: Ben Hoskins/Getty
Australia’s Ashleigh Barty is proving to be quite a force on the grass. The 22-year-old claimed her first title on the surface by edging Johanna Konta, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 on Sunday at the Nature Valley Open in Nottingham.
The top-seed looked to be headed for a straight-sets victory after she saved the first six break points she faced but fourth-seeded Konta hit back late in the second set to force a decider.
In a rematch of last year’s quarterfinals at Nottingham, Barty finished with 10 aces and saved six of eight break points overall. Konta hit seven aces and saved six of nine break points.
Konta was broken at love in the final game of the match after becoming upset about a call that didn’t go her way in the previous game.
The British No.1 was bidding to become the first woman from Great Britain to win a title on home soil since 1981. She also lost the final at Nottingham last year, to Donna Vekic of Croatia.
Barty had dropped three straight finals including one on grass at Birmingham last year.
She improves to 11-3 on grass since the beginning of last season with her only losses coming to Konta, Petra Kvitova and Elina Svitolina. Barty won 10 of 11 sets in total over the course of the week at Nottingham.
She is projected to match her career-high ranking of 16 in the world when WTA rankings are released on Monday.