Pliskova wins BMW Malaysia Open 2013 title

Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic won her maiden Women's Tennis Association (WTA) singles title at the BMW Malaysian Open 2013.

The world's 127th-ranked Pliskova took the crown after defeating wildcard Bethanie Mattek-Sands of USA 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.

"In the first set, Mattek-Sands played so well. I didn't know what else to do but to focus on the game.

"With this title, I'm more confident to play singles in the future," she said after receiving the trophy at the Royal Selangor Gold Club here Sunday.

Mattek-Sands qualified for the final when she defeated third seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-4, 6-1 in the semi-final yesterday.

"Pliskova played well today with strong ground strokes beginning at the second set of the game," said the world's 197th-ranked player.

Pliskova had played against and lost to Mattek-Sands in the Generali Ladies Linz championship last year.

With the title, the 20--year-old Pliskova also received US$40,000 (RM123,822) and 280 points in WTA.