Johanna Larsson wins first WTA title on home soil

Bastad, Sweden: Sweden’s Johanna Larsson captured her first WTA title with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) win over defending champion Mona Barthel in the Swedish Open on Sunday.

Fourth-seeded Barthel, from Germany, had beaten Larsson in straight sets in all three of their previous meetings, but this time the seventh seed made the most of home crowd support to take victory.

The tournament had boasted world number one Serena Williams as its top seed, but the American withdrew after her opening-round win with an elbow injury.

Elsewhere, Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova won her second career title when she beat top-seeded Italian Sara Errani 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 in the Bucharest Open final.

Schmiedlova, ranked at 60 in the world, was beaten by former French Open runner-up Errani in the Rio final earlier this year.

But the 20-year-old gained revenge on Sunday, adding the Romanian title to her maiden career trophy from Katowice in Poland in April.