Jovanovski wins Tashkent Open in three-set final

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- No. 1-seeded Bojana Jovanovski battled Olga Govortsova for nearly 3 hours Saturday before claiming the win in the finals of the Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan.

Jovanovski ended up with a very tight 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) victory for her second career WTA title. Her other championship came at the Baku Cup in July 2012. It was her only other WTA finals appearance.

Jovanovski won just five more points (115-110) over the course of the 2-hour, 56-minute match and both players ended up with five breaks. Jovanovski dropped just 10 points on serve in the final set but still suffered a break. She was also able to finish off just one of her six break opportunities -- she was 5-for-19 in that category for the day -- in the third set but pulled away in the tiebreaker.

Govortsova fell to 0-4 in singles title matches. Saturday marked her first tournament final since April 2010.

The $40,000 check for first pushed Jovanovski's career winnings to more than $1.2 million. Govortsova collected $20,000 as the runner-up and has earned more than $2.2 million in her career.