By Adrianna Outlaw | Sunday, September 18, 2016
American Christina McHale claimed her first career title with a three-set victory over Katerina Siniakova in Tokyo.
Photo credit: Akira Ando
Christina McHale showed a strong closing kick going the distance to deliver her first WTA title.
The 53rd-ranked American used an eight-game run to rally past Katerina Siniakova, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, to capture her first career WTA title in Tokyo.
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McHale was down a set and a break when she answered with the eight game roll, eventually opening a 5-2 lead in the decider.
The 65th-ranked Czech closed to within 4-5 before McHale closed out her first championship.
"I don't even want to put my trophy down — I just want to hold it all the time," McHale said. "I've been coming to this tournament for a few years now and I really love it here. Thanks to all the fans and everyone here for sticking through all the rain delays — we've had a few, especially today."
One more photo 😘🏆
A photo posted by Christina McHale (@christina_mchale) on
The seventh-seeded McHale showed grit in her title run. She won all five of her tournament matches in three sets, defeating Kateryna Kozlova, Rebecca Peterson, Viktorija Golubic and Jana Cepelova