Putintseva beats Zidansek at Nuremberg Cup to win 1st title

NUREMBERG, Germany (AP) — Top-seeded Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan defeated Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to win the Nuremberg Cup final for her first WTA singles title on Saturday.

The 39th-ranked Putintseva converted her second match point to win the clay-court tournament.

The Moscow-born player, a two-time French Open quarterfinalist, had lost previous finals at Guangzhou last year and at St. Petersburg in 2017.

Putintseva’s quarterfinal against Anna-Lena Friedsam lasted a season-longest 3 hours, 21 minutes on Thursday.

The 68th-ranked Zidansek was playing in her first final.