Tennis-Niculescu beats heat and Cornet to win Guangzhou title

Sept 20 (Reuters) - Romanian Monica Niculescu overcame heat and fatigue to beat second seed Alize Cornet in the final of the Guangzhou International Women's Open for her second WTA career title on Saturday. The world number 60 rallied from 4-2 down in the first set to win 10 games in a row and beat her 22nd ranked French opponent 6-4 6-0. "I was so happy to finish in the end because it was very hot and very humid, and I was very, very tired," Niculescu said after her win. "But to finish so strong was amazing for me. I have many emotions right now, but most of it is joy and confidence. It's my second WTA title and that's just an amazing feeling." Cornet, 24, struggled with her serve and committed 12 double faults against an opponent who had none. The 26-year-old Niculescu had a great week at the $500,000 event where she did not drop a set and lost just 17 games in the five matches. "I think it's very tough to play against me because I put many balls back and run a lot and fight for every ball - I think in this heat and humidity it's definitely not easy to play against me," Niculescu added. "I had a good feeling about this tournament when I entered it." (Writing by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)