Urska Vesenjak wins ITF crown

Fourth seed Urska Vesenjak from Slovenia lived up to her pre-tournament favourite tag by defeating her twin sister and sixth seed Masa 4-1, 4-5 (4/7), 4-2, 5-4 (7/3) in a two-hour, thrilling four-set final in the Syndicate Bank $10,000 ITF Women's tennis tournament in Delhi on Saturday.

This was Urska's second title victory over her sister this season and the match was worth the billing after some indifferent performances by players in the tournament.

The final began at a frantic pace, but Urska played better when it mattered most. Serving first, she broke Masa in the fourth game of the first set, which was enough to land her the set.

In the second set, however, Masa put up a better show and matched her sister point-for-point and game-for-game. There were four consecutive breaks as both players failed to hold and the set went in to a tie-breaker.

Again there was little to choose between the two sisters but Masa managed to hold on to win the tie-break 7-3 and level the match at one-set all.

The third set was exciting as holding serve was the key. There were five breaks out of the six games played in the set, in which Urska held her serve in the third game to go 2-1 up.

Despite being down by a set, Masa refused to give in as she again put up a spirited fight. After trading breaks early in the set, the two held on to their serve to send the fourth set too into the tie-breaker.

This time, Urska had other ideas and raced to a 5-1 lead without wasting much time and won the tie-break 7-4 to bag the title and the winner's cheque of $1600. Masa had to be content with $1000.

An elated Urska later said: "I was a little bit lucky today." She complimented her sister for keeping her "constantly on the move".

Masa said: "I knew it was always going to be tough against Urska but I am happy with my game."