ISTANBUL, Turkey - Playing in the first WTA final of her career, Lesia Tsurenko survived some tense moments late in the first set then completely pulled away to beat Urszula Radwanska in straight sets and win the first WTA title of her career at the International-level TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup.
It was a rare unseeded final on the WTA, and both finalists had taken out seeds along the way - Tsurenko had beaten No.6 seed Daria Gavrilova in the first round, while Radwanska had beaten No.3 seed Jelena Jankovic in the first round and No.8 seed Tsvetana Pironkova in the quarterfinals.
With a first WTA title on the line for both players, Radwanska looked like she was handling the pressure better early on - she held three set points on Tsurenko's serve up 5-4 in the first set.
But the Ukrainian fought them all off and ended up winning seven games in a row to build a 7-5, 4-0 lead, eventually closing it out a few games later after an hour and 32 minutes on court, 7-5, 6-1.
"When I saw the draw it looked tough, but I believe that if you go to a tournament you can win it," Tsurenko said. "You have to think like this. And I'm so happy I could win here and show good tennis.
"That's my goal, getting good results and showing good tennis."
Tsurenko's best WTA results before this were semifinals at Brisbane in 2013 and Tashkent in 2014.
Radwanska is now 0-2 in WTA finals, falling to Nadia Petrova in the 's-Hertogenbosch final in 2012.
The doubles title went to the all-WTA Rising Star pair of Daria Gavrilova and Elina Svitolina, who rallied to beat Jankovic and Turkish No.1 Cagla Buyukakcay in a match tie-break, 5-7, 6-1, 10-4.
For Gavrilova, it was the first WTA title of any kind in her blossoming career.
"Beating the top seeds in the second round was a good win for us, and it got us on the right track. We were getting more and more confident after that," Gavrilova said afterwards. "Today we weren't happy we lost the first set, but from there we kicked on and kept fighting, and that's what got us the title."
For Svitolina, it's her second WTA doubles title - she won here last year too with Misaki Doi.
"We were playing great. We didn't give them any chances in the second set," Svitolina said.
"It's a lucky place for me here after last year! I've enjoyed both wins - it's been amazing."
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