Nagyova beats Majoli to win in Malaysia

Slovakia's Henrieta Nagyova beat former French Open champion Iva Majoli of Croatia 6-4, 6-2 to win the Wismilak International in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, today.

Slovakia's Henrieta Nagyova beat former French Open champion Iva Majoli of Croatia 6-4, 6-2 to win the Wismilak International in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, today.

Nagyova, who will turn 22 next month, played superbly to grab her third title of the year as well as the eighth in her career.

"I did well from the first round and continued to play well until the end. This victory gives me a morale booster for future tournaments," said Nagyova, who pocketed home 104,777 ringgit ($27,573) for her victory.

But the unseeded Nagyova, who stunned Thailand's third seed Tamarine Tanasugarn in Saturday's semifinals, had to struggle back from 2-0 down in the opening set as Majoli managed to break her serve.

The world number 60 player broke back in the very next game, and another break in the seventh game saw Nagyova ahead 4-3 and then held on to her serve to win the first set 6-4 in 51 minutes.

Nagyova raced on to a 2-0 lead in the second set as she broke Majoli's opening serve, but the Croatian, ranked 109th, tried to make a late comeback by breaking her opponent's serve in the fourth game to level at 2-2.

But Nagyova did not give Majoli much space, and then two breaks in the fifth and seventh game saw her served for the match at 5-2. She scored the winning point when Majoli's return hit the net.

Nagyova and Austria's Sylvia Plischke then paired up for the doubles final, beating fourth seed pair Liezel Horn of South Africa and Canada's Vanessa Webb 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).