Eastbourne, England - Unseeded Austrian Tamira Paszek saved five matchpoints and overcame a leg injury to beat eighth seed Angelique Kerber 5-7 6-3 7-5 and win the Eastbourne International tennis tournament on Saturday.
Paszek, the world number 59, was a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon last year but had never won a grasscourt title until Saturday when she put up a fierce fight against the German.
Kerber had five matchpoints at 5-3 in the deciding set but Paszek, who had problems with her right leg after slipping in the seventh game, saved them all, helped by some unforced errors from the German.
Paszek, 21, took a medical time-out to have her right ankle strapped and called the trainer again to massage her calf during a changeover before clinching the match on her third matchpoint.
The Austrian, who will face former world number one Caroline Wozniacki in the first round at Wimbledon next week, sank to her knees and kissed the grass at Devonshire Park.
The early games had been accompanied by chants from a delegation of Dutch dockers, standing outside a gate close to Centre Court, who accused insurance company Aegon, the principal tournament sponsor, of mishandling their pension fund, but the notorious Eastbourne winds carried away their cries before the men were shepherded away by security staff.
In the men's final later on Saturday, American Andy Roddick, who was given a wild card into Eastbourne, was playing defending champion Andreas Seppi of Italy. – Reuters