Li Na picks up championship at Shenzhen

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SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- No. 1-seed Li Na battled her way to a three-set win Saturday over Klara Zakopalova in winning the championship at the Shenzhen Gemdale Open in China.

Li, No. 7 in the world rankings, got by Zakopalova, who was seeded fifth this week, 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 in a match that took more than 2 hours.

It was the seventh WTA title for Li, whose first was in 2004 also in her native China. She's won at least one tournament each year since 2010. Zakopalova has lost her last four finals appearances and is 2-10 in title matches.

After Li won the first set, Zakopalova seemed to take over. She controlled the second set and took the first game of the third set with a break. Li won five of the next six games for a 5-2 lead only to have Zakopalova pull even at 5-5. But Li won the next two games, which included her seventh break in the match, for the title.

The championship was worth $112,080 to Li while Zakopalova picked up $56,040 as runner-up.