Bouchard claims WTA title

Berlin - Canada's Australian Open semi-finalist Eugenie Bouchard won her first WTA tour title on Saturday when she beat Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in the Nuremberg final.

The 20-year-old Bouchard shot to fame in January when she became only the second Canadian to reach a Grand Slam semi-final and then broke into the WTA's top 20.

Leading 4-2 in the second set, Bouchard was heading for a straight-set victory, before Pliskova reeled off four games in a row to take the second set, but the Canadian second-seed regrouped in the third to take the final in just under two hours.

Bouchard picks up the winner's check of US$250,000 for the clay-court tournament to give herself a timely boost before next week's French Open.

Czech Pliskova had already accounted for top seed Angelique Kerber in the quarter-finals and eliminated fourth seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the semi-finals, while Bouchard had not dropped a set en route to the final.