Ruse beats Petkovic to claim maiden title at Hamburg European Open

Elena-Gabriela Ruse claimed the first WTA singles title of her career as she beat Andrea Petkovic in the final of the Hamburg European Open.

Appearing in her maiden tour final, the Romanian qualifier ran out a 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 victor in just over two hours on the German clay.

Petkovic, meanwhile, failed to end a six-year wait for a title spanning back to success at the Antwerp Diamond Games in February 2015.

Only a tie break could separate the two players in nip and tuck first set in Hamburg that saw each player break service once.

And it was 23-year-old Ruse who came out on top, with a second service win percentage of 60.9 to Petkovic's 46.7 across the entire set eventually telling.

The second set was more chaotic, with Petkovic breaking her opponent on two occasions as she attempted to find a way back into the match.

However, the German was broken three times herself, most crucially in the 10th and final game as Ruse claimed it 6-4 to win the WTA 250 event.

Ruse's first tour win is sure to provide a boost to her current WTA ranking of 198, 68 places below her opponent in Sunday's final.

An impressive run to the final also saw her beat top seed Dayana Yastremska and American Danielle Collins.