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“I’ve played some of my best tennis this week, had some of my best wins,” said Kartal, after coming through qualifying and dropping just one set in the tournament in Monastir. <\/p>\n
“I feel like each match I’ve grown and grown. I tried so hard to put the occasion and the score behind me.”<\/p>\n
Both women were playing in their first final at this level and Kartal warned beforehand that the player who handled the occasion best would come out on top. <\/p>\n
After an early wobble, dropping her serve in the opening game, she showed the greater tactical acumen to exert control. <\/p>\n
Kartal won the final three games of the opening set and opened a 4-1 lead in the second before her serve started to let her down, albeit under intense pressure from a resurgent Sramkova. <\/p>\n
She overcame that pressure, breaking her 27-year-old opponent a total of four times in a second set that lasted 71 minutes, eventually sealing the win in just under two hours. <\/p>\n
“I started the year with the goal of being top 150, so now I have passed that,” added Kartal, who was 298 in the world before reaching the third round of Wimbledon this year. <\/p>\n
“I’m just trying to end the year in the top 100.”<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Britain’s Jacob Fearnley, 23, won his third title in four months on the Challenger Tour, beating 27-year-old Frenchman Quentin Halys 0-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 in Rennes. <\/p>\n
He is now expected to rise to 129 in the world, up 396 places since graduating from Texas Christian University in May. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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