Jelena Ostapenko has sealed her first title of the year with Birmingham Classic glory on Sunday afternoon defeating top seed, Barbora Krejcikova 7-6(8), 6-4.
In a clash between former Roland Garros champions, Ostapenko took one hour and 51 minutes to win through.
In doing so, she fended off a second set comeback and seals her sixth career singles title on the WTA tour. It is her first since Seoul last year.
It is a second career title on grass after winning 2021 Eastbourne. The first set in particular remained close.
Both remained untroubled on their service games with no breaks. In the tie-break, Ostapenko edged pivotal rallies with superb power play to give her a 6-4 lead and double set point.
Krejcikova turned it around though and forced her own set point only for Ostapenko to erase that and slam a forehand winner down the line at 9-8 to claim it.
Ostapenko lead 5-1 in the next set but this was narrowed to 5-4 by Krejcikova. Only again for the former to slam the door shut with another forehand winner down the line for victory.
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