BIRMINGHAM: Melanie Oudin of the United States won her first WTA tournament, defeating Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 6-2 on Monday in the rain-delayed, grass-court final of the Aegon Classic.
The 20-year-old came through qualifying and won eight matches to claim her first tour title. She also earned a wild card to compete at Wimbledon.
”It was like this came out of nowhere,” said Oudin, who didn’t expect to win her first title on grass.
Oudin, who has been recovering from an injury, become the first player ranked outside of the top 200 to capture a main tour title since Kim Clijsters won the US Open in 2009.
Oudin was a 2009 U.S. Open quarterfinalist, but has struggled since that breakthrough.
She beat two other seeded players on the way to this final – 10th-seeded Sourana Cirstea of Romania and eight-seeded Ekararina Makarova of Russia in the semifinals.
She also beat Jankovic during their first and only other meeting three years ago, at Wimbledon. (AP)