Kuala Lumpur Gallery: The Final Battle

The BMW Malaysian Open final featured two unseeded players on hot streaks, leaving a slew of seeds in their paths of destruction - and when they clashed for the title, there was little between them.

Published March 05, 2013 12:00

The picturesque venue for the fourth edition of the BMW Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Throughout the week, the stars of the WTA battled tough conditions and competition at the event.

In the end Karolina Pliskova, one half of rising twin sister act the Pliskovas, was still standing.

Pliskova had beaten No.5 seed Misaki Doi and No.4 seed Ayumi Morita en route to her first WTA final.

Meanwhile, Bethanie Mattek-Sands took out three seeds to reach the final - No.6, No.2 and No.3.

And in the early goings, it was Mattek-Sands whose aggressive play seemed to discourage Pliskova.

Mattek-Sands took the first set, 6-1, and served at 5-6 to take the second set to a tie-break.

But Pliskova's return game caught fire then, as she broke to take the second set - one set apiece.

Pliskova broke one more time midway through the third set to pull off a 16 75 63 comeback win.

Before Kuala Lumpur, Pliskova's best WTA result was just one quarterfinal at Prague back in 2008.

Now, Pliskova not only took home her first WTA title, she broke into the Top 100 on the new rankings.

Meanwhile, Shuko Aoyama and Chang Kai-Chen saved match point to win the BMW Malaysian Open doubles.

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