TIANJIN, China—Alison Riske defeated Belinda Bencic 6-3, 6-4 to claim her first WTA tour title at the inaugural Tianjin Open.
The sixth-seeded American reeled off 10 of the first 14 games before Bencic leveled the second set at 4-all. The third-seeded Swiss earned a break point to take a 5-4 lead, but Riske saved it then broke in the final game to wrap up a one hour, 19-minute victory.
"It's a huge accomplishment for me to win my first WTA title," Riske told WTATennis.com. "And I was here by myself, which made it even more special, just to know that I was able to do it by myself.
"I hope I can keep up the momentum and try to compete every week as best as I can."
Riske broke serve five times in the match.
Contesting her first WTA final, the 17-year-old Bencic was bidding to become the youngest champion on the WTA tour since Tamira Paszek of Austria won in Portoroz, Slovenia, in 2006 at the age of 15.
"Obviously there was a little momentum change in the second set," Riske said. "But that was because Belinda upped her level at that point. She's been playing so well this year and has a really bright future ahead of her. I knew coming into the match that it would be a battle and it really was."