Tennis-Pliskova overcomes Lepchenko and finals jinx in Korea

Reuters

SEOUL, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Czech Karolina Pliskova defeated American Varvara Lepchenko to win the Korea Open title on Sunday, ending her run of defeats in WTA finals this year at her fourth attempt. The world number 32, seeded second, won 6-3 6-7(5) 6-2 after two hours and 11 minutes to claim her second WTA title. The 22-year-old lost three singles finals in 2014, the latest against Germany's Sabine Lisicki at the WTA Hong Kong Open last Sunday. Lepchenko, seeded fifth, ran out of steam after hard-fought victories over top seed and defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarter-finals and compatriot Christina McHale in the last four. (Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)