Associated Press 12y

Kiki Bertens wins at Fez for 1st title

Tennis

FEZ, Morocco -- Dutch qualifier Kiki Bertens won her first WTA title when she beat Spaniard Laura Pous-Tio 7-5, 6-0 in the Grand Prix SAR final on Saturday.

Both played in their first tour final.

"In the beginning I was very nervous and she started well, but after I won the first set all my nerves were gone," Bertens said. "I'm excited. I'm going to play more tournaments now and try to win more."

The 20-year-old Bertens dropped serve twice, but used her superior returns to break Pous-Tio three times in each set.

Bertens raced away with the second set, conceding only two points on her serve, while Pous-Tio managed to win only 41 percent of her first-serve points.

"It is only my second tournament on clay, so I'm still happy with the result," Pous-Tio said. "She started attacking more and everything started going faster. She played a very good match today."

The 149th-ranked Bertens came through two qualifying rounds to make the main draw, and she had previously never been beyond the first round at a WTA event.

"I love it here. I was here for one week because I played the qualies too, so I'm a little bit tired now," Bertens said. "But I'm going to celebrate tonight."

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