NUREMBERG, Germany -- Eugenie Bouchard has captured her first WTA title.
The 20-year-old from Westmount, defeated Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 on Saturday to win the Nuremberg Cup title.
Bouchard is ranked No. 19 in the world but was the second seed this week because of the absence of many of the world's top women.
Bouchard, who didn't lose a set en route to Saturday's final, had reached the semifinals at the Australian Open but was still looking for her first WTA title.
Pliskova, who upset top-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany in the quarter-finals, was playing her second final of the year and was seeking her second career title after Kuala Lumpur in 2013.
Bouchard will take on Shahar Peer of Israel in her first round French Open match.
Bouchard's previous best tournament result was her run to the semifinals of the Australian Open, which was just the second time ever that a Canadian had reached a Grand Slam semifinal, after Carling Bassett-Seguso did it at the US Open back in 1984.
As a result of that performance Bouchard broke into the Top 20. She was the third Canadian woman to do so along with Bassett-Seguso and Helen Kelesi.
Leading 6-2, 4-2, Bouchard looked headed for a routine straight set victory, but Pliskova won four straight games to steal the second set.
But the No.1-seeded Bouchard regrouped to close out the unseeded Czech in three sets in an hour and 53 minutes, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Bouchard had better numbers in all categories except for the ace-to-double fault ratio (Pliskova was 7-1, Bouchard was 3-4)
Bouchard won 67 percent of first points compared to 63 percent for Pilskova. Bouchard also continued to excel on second serve return points winning 67 percent to 59 percent for her opponent.
Bouchard is the first Canadian to win a WTA title since Aleksandra Wozniak won at Standford in 2008.
Previous Canadian WTA winners were Patricia Hy-Boulais (1986 Taipei), Carling Bassett-Seguso (1983 Hershey and 1987 Strasbourg), Helen Kelesi (1986 Tokyo and 1988 Taranto) and Jill Hetherington (1988 Wellington).
Wozniak in at Roland Garos
Meanwhile fellow-Quebecer Aleksandra Wozniak won a place in the main draw of the French Open by winning a qualifier over her Turkish combatant Cagla Buyukakay 6-4, 6-4.
Wozniak reached the fourth round of Roland Garros in 2009 but was sidelined with a shoulder injury last year.
Wozniak will battle 27th world-ranked Sorana Cirstea of Romania in the first round.
Canadian Milos Ranoic will battle the young Australian Nick Kyrgios in his first round match in Paris.
-With a file from The Associated Press
