Japan’s Nao Hibino wins Prague Open title

PRAGUE: Japan’s Nao Hibino completed a fairytale journey from lucky loser to champion as she beat Czech teenager Linda Noskova in straight sets on Monday to win the rain-hit Prague Open. Hibino, 28, swept aside fourth seed Noskova 6-4, 6-1 in the final disrupted by rain.

She added a third WTA title to her previous wins at Tashkent in 2015 and Hiroshima in 2019.

“I’m really grateful to have made it to the final today,” said Hibino. “It was a tough week with all the rain.”

The final had to be suspended when Hibino, the world number 136, was 4-1, 30-0 up in the second set because of rain plaguing the tournament since Saturday.

Hibino already had to complete her semi-final against Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian on Monday morning, but she only spent five minutes on the court.

The rain washed out Saturday’s programme and the semi-finals were postponed to Sunday, which were further delayed due to rain. Agencies

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