Nara beats Zakopalova in Rio final

Published January 08, 2015

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (SportsNetwork.com) - Japan's Kurumi Nara captured her first title with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 win over top seed Klara Zakopalova in Sunday's final at the inaugural Rio Open tennis event.

The fifth-seeded Nara, playing in her maiden WTA final, won 72 percent of the points while serving in the opening set.

Both women struggled with their serve in a second set that featured seven combined breaks. Zakopalova rallied from 0-40 to hold in the ninth game and then broke to force a decisive third set, where Nara earned four more breaks en route to the crown.

The oldest player in the main draw, Zakopalova was hoping to give herself an early birthday present, but suffered her sixth straight loss in a final dating back to 2005. The Czech was also the runner-up in Hobart last month and fell to 2-12 in title matches.

Zakopalova turns 32 on Monday.

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