Puig captures Strasbourg crown for first title

Strasbourg, France (SportsNetwork.com) - Monica Puig of Puerto Rico claimed her first career WTA title Saturday with a straight-set victory over Spain's Silvia Soler-Espinosa in the final of the Strasbourg International.

Puig rolled to a 6-4, 6-3 triumph Saturday. She had never been past the quarterfinals of a WTA event before this week's title run.

"I remember saying I wanted to win a WTA (title) this year, so I'm going to have to find another goal now," said Puig.

It was a dominating effort from Puig, who held in all nine of her service games and broke Soler-Espinosa three times. The first break came in the opening game of the match and she broke twice in the second set, including the final game.

"I woke up this morning and felt I was going to do something amazing," Puig added. "It was one of those feelings where you just know it's going to happen, and I played some of the greatest tennis I've ever played. I was very focused and very poised on the court, and I'm very happy how things went."

Soler-Espinosa was also appearing in her first career final. She hadn't been past the second round in any of her 10 previous events this year, including six first-round exits, and had to survive qualifying to reach the main draw this week.

Puig improved to 2-0 lifetime against Soler-Espinosa, also winning a second- round match last year at Wimbledon.

Next for both is the French Open. Puig will meet Samantha Stosur in the first round, while Soler-Espinosa will open against Chanelle Scheepers.