Nara beats Zakopalova in Rio final
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.