PARIS, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Angelique Kerber claimed her first WTA championship Sunday with a three-set win over Marion Bartoli at the GDF Suez Open tennis tournament in Paris.
Kerber, making just her second finals appearance, edged past Bartoli 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-3 in a match that took more than 2 1/2 hours. Bartoli falls to 7-10 in tournament title matches.
Bartoli didn't go down without a fight, however. After Kerber saved a break point and went up 5-2 in the third set, Bartoli fought off four match points in the subsequent game. But Kerber then held serve in the ninth game for her first title.
She also picked up the first-place check for $107,000, which pushed her career winning to more than $1.5 million. Bartoli took home $57,000 as runner-up.
