Bethanie Mattek-Sands was hoping to extend her recent doubles success to win her first singles WTA title. Unseeded Karolina Pliskova had the same goal and the 127 ranked Czech prevailed as she beat Mattek-Sands 1-6 7-5 6-3 at the BMW Malaysian Open.
The 20-year-old Pliskova, playing her first singles final, dropped her first set in the tournament but recovered to win her maiden title by downing Mattek-Sands.
"It was a tough match but I'm delighted to win my first singles title. I still can't believe it," Pliskova told reporters.
Mattek-Sands had been riding a wave of success since her recent Dubai Duty Free Championship with doubles partner Sania Mirza of India last week. But the 197th ranked American could not finish off Pliskova who served 10 aces.
I'm still happy with the way I played all week," Mattek-Sands said. "Just that she played very well. The beauty of tennis is that there is another tournament next week so I just have to pick myself up and get on with it."
Her runner-up finish earned Mattek-Sands $20.000 while the champion Pliskova took home $40,000 for winning the BMW Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.
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