Tamira Paszek conquers Eastbourne title

Tamira Paszek claimed a pre-Wimbledon WTA title as the Austrian HEAD racquet rebel won her first career trophy on grass with a 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 upset of world No. 8 Angelique Kerber in the final of the AEGON International in Eastbourne. The 59th-ranked Paszek, playing with her YouTek IG Instinct MP, needed almost three hours to overcome her German opponent as well as an ankle injury which she had taped in the second set as she played on for the victory.

"You have to get on with things which aren't perfect. So I just tried to keep hanging in there", said the 2011 Wimbledon quarter-finalist, who saved five match points in the second set on the way into a deciding third set. "I've always known I'm a fighter, I always believed in myself. In practice everything has been working, and now it was just a matter of getting that aggression and pleasure to play on court."

Paszek had been specialising in upsets all week on the grass and continued the trend with her fight back from a set and a break down. Paszek had earlier eliminated eighth seed Daniela Hantuchova and beat fourth seed Marion Bartoli in the semi-finals. Paszek won the third title of her career from four finals, with her last success coming in September, 2010, in Canada.

The 21-year old Austrian will start her Wimbledon campaign against former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. "This has been one of the best weeks of my career. Winning a title, everything has to fit together. It's really special to win the title on grass, one of my favorite surfaces and to do so in front of my family.”