WUHAN: Caroline Garcia overpowered Australia's Ashleigh Barty 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 to claim her first Wuhan Open title on Saturday in a thrilling see-saw final in the Chinese city.
Ranked 20 in the world, Garcia battled her way through two tight sets against Barty before breezing the third to claim the biggest title of her career in two hours and 43 minutes.
"It was such a fight all the week and especially today," the French player said after the match.
"A title is the best thing you can have in tennis, that's why you fight all year long. I'm over the moon for sure."
Garcia stormed her way into an early lead in the first set but a resilient Barty twice came from a break down to force a tiebreak that she went on to dominate.
The Aussie served for the match twice in the second, while her opponent also had two chances to nab the set before it was forced into another tiebreak.
The third set was simpler for Garcia, who fell to her knees in celebration after Barty fired a return into the net.
"For me it was already such a battle from the first game, it was already very long," Garcia said.
"In the beginning of the second set I was a little bit down, I couldn't get my focus again. I just kept going, fight until the end."
Barty, who was also playing in her first ever Premier 5 level final, said it had been "a hell of a week, probably the best week of my tennis career".
"My first serve deserted me a bit but I put myself in a position where I was only a few points away from the final," said Barty, ranked 37 in the world.
"Disappointing to not come away with it in the end but sometimes it crumbles that way," she added.
Barty, who began the year ranked outside the top 300, trounced French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko in the semis, seeing off the last seed at a shock-prone Wuhan.
The 21-year-old had already triumphed over former world number one Karolina Pliskova, Agnieszka Radwanska, seeded nine, and Johanna Konta, the fifth seed in a dream run in the Chinese city.
Those victories came in her first full season back after a break from tennis and a successful stint with the Brisbane Heat cricket team.
Garcia also toppled her fair share of seeds in the early rounds -- including Dominika Cibulkova, seeded seven, and number 12 seed Angelique Kerber -- before trouncing Greece's Maria Sakkari in the semis.
It was the first professional meeting between the pair after 23-year-old Garcia beat Barty on her way to the 2011 US Open Girls' final.